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This Child is set up for the Fall and Resurrection of Many in Israei 



THE LIFE 



OF 



JESUS CHRIST 

EMBRACING THE ENTIRE 
GOSPEL NARRATIVE 

Embodying the Teachings and the Miracles of Our Saviour 

TOGETHER WITH THE HISTORY OF 

Hi$ Foundation of the Christian Church 



BY 
REV. WALTER EI^IOTT? 

Of the Paulist Fathers 

NINTH THOUSAND 



New York 

THE CATHOLIC BOOK EXCHANGE 

1903 



mfbflobstat: 

REV. REMY LAFORT, S.T.L., 

Censor Deputatus. 



•ffmprimatur : 

+ MICHAEL AUGUSTINUS, 
Archiepiscopus Neo-Ebor* 



7 Augusti t j got. 



Copyright, 1901, by "The Missionary Society of St. Paui, 
the Apostle in the State oe New York." 



Printed at the Columbus Press, 120 West 60th St. 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copies Received 

SEP 5 1903 

Copyright Entry 

Ofay. a/*2_ 

CLASS <3U XXc. No 
COPY 8. 



</ 



iy £> 



PREFACE. 



THIS work is a contribution to the devotional 
study of our Redeemer's teaching and ex- 
ample. It engaged the author's best thoughts and 
endeavors during several years. It is hoped that 
it may help the Catholic reader to a more vivid 
appreciation of our Lord's life and doctrine ; its 
main purpose is to move hearts to love Him fer- 
vently. Perhaps He may bestow a blessing upon 
this humble offering ; for though in itself of little 
enough value, yet it is given with all the love of 
which the author is capable. 

And he trusts that this Life has some special 
features which will recommend it. One of these is 
that it contains the entire Gospel history, omitting 
only strictly verbal repetitions. The reader will thus 
have the four-fold narrative of the inspired authors 
blended together into the continuous account of our 
Saviour's career from first to last, together with 
such passages from the other books of the New 
Testament as furnish additional testimony. 

This portion of the work is, for the most part, 
ruled off separately from the text ; and the writer 
hopes that it will always be read, piece by piece, 
and very carefully, as a preliminary to each chap- 
ter. To help the reader to understand and appre- 



ii PREFACE. 

ciate this divine narrative has been the author's 
only purpose. He has closely followed the most 
generally used Catholic versions, and on disputed 
points has adhered to the more commonly accepted 
views. 

Another advantage is in the use made of tW 
modern art of pictorial illustration. The book is 
full of pictures, so numerous and so carefully se- 
lected as to make a Life of Christ by themselves. 
The publishers have been aided in this by skilful 
artists,* and certainly have reproduced those contri- 
butions of Christian art most helpful to a devout 
realization of our Redeemer's mission. This book 
is intended to be the religious photographic album 
of the Catholic household. 

It is hardly necessary to add that the Life, 
besides giving our Saviour's history, affirms and 
briefly proves the doctrines He taught and deliver- 
ed to His Church, whose divine authority, whose 
sacraments, and whose incorporation into a living 
body are all fully explained. 

Of course there is not, nor could there be, any 
claim to originality in this work. Readers acquaint- 
ed with Le Camus's beautiful Vie de Jisus will, 
perhaps, notice the influence of the earlier chapters 
of that inspiring writer. The author acknowledges 
his debt to him, and also to other Catholic bio- 
graphers of our Lord. 

* Especially by Rev. P. J. McCorry, C.S.P., to whose artistic skill and 
taste we are mainly indebted for the illustrations. 



COIsT'TEIsrrS. 



INTRODUCTION. 
OUR SAVIOUR'S PEOPLE AND COUNTRY. 

PAGE 

Palestine and the Children of Israel, I 

Jerusalem and Judea, . 4 

The Perea and the Transjordan, 8 

Samaria, 9 

Galilee, 10 

The Pharisees and Sadducees, 12 

The Synagogues and the Sanhedrin, 14 

The Roman Power in Palestine, 15 

The Hope of Israel, 18 

The Writings which tell of Jesus, 19 



BOOK I. 
THE HIDDEN LIFE OF JESUS. 

[APTER PAGE 

I. The Miraculous Conception of John the Baptist, 41 
II. The Birth and Circumcision of John — The Can- 
ticle of Zachary, 

III. The Divine Origin of Jesus Christ, 

IV. The Descent of Jesus according to the Flesh, 
V. Mary of Nazareth and Joseph her espoused 

Husband, 

VI. The Son of God becomes Man, . 
VII. Mary's Visit to Elizabeth— The Magnificat, 
VIII. The Marriage of Mary and Joseph, 
IX. Jesus is born at Bethlehem, 
X. The Child Jesus is Circumcised, . 
XI. The Adoration of the Magi, 
XII. The Child Jesus is Presented in the Temple — 

Simeon, and Anna the Prophetess, . 
XIII. The Flight into Egypt— The Slaughter of the 

Innocents — The Return to Nazareth, . . 96 

" XIV. The Childhood of Jesus, 102 

XV. The Child Jesus among the Doctors of the Law, 107 
XVI. The Hidden Life at Nazareth, . . . ,113 



91 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK II. 



THE PUBLIC LIFE OF JESUS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. John the Baptist prepares the Way for Jesus, . 121 
II. The Baptism of Jesus — "Thou art My Beloved 

Son!" 126 

III. The Preparation in the Desert, .... 133 

IV. The Temptation, 139 

V. John the Baptist and the Chief Priests— " Be- 
hold the Lamb of God ! " 145 

VI. Jesus chooses Disciples, . . . . . 151 

VII. The Wedding at Cana, 156 

VIII. Jesus returns to Jerusalem and Expels the Traf- 
fickers from the Temple — He proclaims His 

Authority, 161 

IX. Jesus begins to Teach in Jerusalem — The Inter- 
view with Nicodemus, ..... 166 
X. Teaching in the Country-places — Final Witness 

of John, 173 

XI. The Imprisonment of John the Baptist — Jesus 

and the Samaritan Woman, .... 175 
XII. The Harvest and the Reapers, . . . .182 

XIII. The Return to Galilee— The Healing of the 

Ruler's Son, 184 

XIV. At Nazareth, 186 

XV. Capharnaum — "I will make you Fishers of 

Men," 191 

XVI. Vanquishing an unclean Spirit — Healing Si- 
mon's Wife's Mother — All Galilee is Evan- 
gelized, 193 

XVII. Teaching from Peter's Barque — The Miraculous 

Draught of Fishes, 202 

XVIII. The Cleansing of a Leper, 205 

XIX. Jesus returns to Capharnaum— Cure of the 
Paralytic, and the consequent Dispute with 

the Pharisees, 208 

XX. Matthew the Publican— The Time for Fasting 

and the Time for Feasting, . . . .212 
XXI. The Woman Cured of an Issue of Blood— The 

Raising to Life of the Daughter of Jairus, . 217 



CONTENTS. v 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXII. The final Calling of the Twelve Apostles, . . 223 

XXIII. The Sermon on the Mount, . . . 230-252 

XXIV. Healing the Centurion's Servant— The Two 

Blind Men— The Dumb Devil, .... 253 
XXV. The Miracle at the Probatic Pool— Sabbath- 

breaking — Jesus asserts His Divinity, . . 256 
XXVI. Plucking the Bars of Wheat on the Sabbath- 
Healing the Man with the Withered Hand — 
Conspiracy between the Pharisees and Hero- 

dians, 264 

XXVII. The great Miracle of Nairn, .... 269 
XXVIII. The Messengers of St. John the Baptist, . . 272 

XXIX. The Magdalen at the Banquet 276 

XXX. At Nazareth again, 281 

XXXI. Evangelizing Galilee — The Devout Women who 

ministered to Jesus, 283 

XXXII. The sending forth of the Twelve Apostles— The 

Apostolic Virtues, 287 

XXXIII. The Opposition of the Pharisees— The Blind 

and Dumb Devil — Christ and Beelzebub — 
" Blessed is the Womb that bore Thee "—The 
Mother of Jesus and His Brethren, . . . 294 

XXXIV. Teaching by Parables— The Sower— The Candle 

—The Mustard-seed— The Leaven— The Cockle 
—The Hidden Treasure— The Pearl of Great 
Price — The Net — New Things and Old, . . 303 
XXXV. The Stilling of the Tempest— The Legion of 

Devils and the Herd of Swine, . . . 314 

XXXVI. The Imprisonment of John the Baptist— His 

Martyrdom, . 319 

XXXVII. Jesus Multiplies the Loaves and Fishes — He 

Walks upon the Water, 324 

XXXVIII. The Bread of Life, 331 

XXXIX. Many Disciples go back from Jesus on account 

of the Doctrine of the Eucharist, . . . 339 
XL. Eating with Unwashed Hands — Inward and 

Outward Defilement, 342 

XLI. The Syro-Phcenician Woman, .... 346 
XLH. In the Decapolis — Healing the Deaf and Dumb 
Man — Second Miracle of the Loaves and 
Fishes, 349 



ri CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XLIII. 'The Pharisees again Demand a Sign in the 
Heavens — " Beware of the Leaven of the 
Pharisees " — The Blind Man at Bethsaida, . 352 

XLIV. "Thou art Peter," 356 

XLV. Jesus Foretells His Death, 361 

XL VI. The Transfiguration 364 

XLVIL The Lunatic Boy, 369 

XLVIII. The Passion again Foretold — Jesus and the Pay- 
ment of the Tax — The Dispute about Prece- 
dence, 372 

XLJX. The Sin of Scandal— The Guardian Angels— 

The Good Shepherd and the Lost Sheep, . 378 

L. Fraternal Correction — " If He will not hear the 

Church "—The Wicked Servant, . . .382 
LI. Farewell to Galilee — " Woe to thee, Corozain ! " 385 
LII. The Journey from Galilee to Jerusalem — "Fire 
from Heaven " — " The Son of Man hath not 
where to lay His Head " — ' ' Let the Dead bury 
their Dead " — " Looking Back, " . . . 390 
LIH. Jesus in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles — 

He Teaches His Divine Mission, '. . . 393 
LIV. Jesus offers the Waters of Life— The Attempt to 

Apprehend Him in the Temple, . . . 397 

LV. The Woman taken in Adultery, . . . 401 

LVI. Jesus the Light of the World, . . . .405 

LVII. "You shall Die in your Sins" — Jesus Teaches 

true Freedom — The Secret of Life—" Before 

Abraham was Made, I Am," .... 407 

LVIII. The Man born Blind, 415 

LIX. Contention with the Pharisees about the Restor- 
ation to Sight of the Man born Blind, . . 417 
LX. The Shepherd and the Sheep, .... 420 
LXI. "lam the Good Shepherd," .... 425 

LXII. The Good Samaritan, 428 

LXIII. Mary and Martha, 431 

LXIV. Jesus Teaches His Disciples how to Pray — The 

Lord's Pra3 7 er, 435 

LX V. The Watchful Servants— The Thief in the Night, 444 
LXVI. Jesus at the Feast of the Dedication of the Tem- 
ple—He again Teaches that He is God, . . 447 
LXVn. Hypocrisy— " Woe to you Pharisees ! " . . 452 



CONTENTS. vii 

CHAPTER PAGE 

LXVIII. "Who hath appointed Me Judge or Divider 

over you ? ' ' — Covetousness, .... 458 
LXIX. Healing the Infirm Woman on the Sabbath Day 

— The Dropsical Man 460 

LXX. First Places at Table— The Great Supper: 

"Compel them to Come In," .... 461 
LXXI. The Chosen Few— The Slaughter of the Gali- 
leans and the Falling of the Tower of Siloe, . 464 
LXXII. " Why Cumbereth it the Ground ?" . . . 468 
LXXIII. " This Man began to Build and was not able to 

Finish," 469 

LXXIV. Jesus is Warned against Herod, .... 472 
LXXV. Lessons of Mercy— The lost Groat— The Prodi- 
gal Son, 473 

LXXVI. The Unjust Steward, 477 

LXX VII. Dives and Lazarus, 481 

LXX VIII. Lessons in Humility — The Pharisee and the 

Publican, 484 

LXXIX. The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead, . . 486 
LXXX. " It is expedient that one Man should Die for 

the People," 492 

LXXXI. The Unjust Judge who heard the Widow's 

Prayer, 495 

LXXXII. The Sending of the Seventy-two Disciples, . 497 

LXXXIII. "Where are the Nine?" 501 

LXXXIV. The Laborers hired at the Eleventh Hour, . 502 
LXXXV. Riches and Poverty, and Christian Perfection, . 506 
LXXX VI. The Hundred-fold in this Life and Life Ever- 
lasting Hereafter, ...... 509 

LXXXVII. The Sacrament of Matrimony, . . . .511 

LXXXVIII. Christian Virginity and Celibacy— Jesus and 

Little Children, 517 

BOOK III. 



THE PASSION AND DEATH OF JESUS. 
I. " Behold we go up to Jerusalem," 
II. The Ambition of the Sons of Zebedee, 

III. The Blind Man at the Gate of Jericho, 

IV. Zacheus the Publican, 
V. The Parable of the Ten Pounds, 



523 
526 

53i 
534 
537 



▼Hi CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

VI. "Six Days before the Passover," . . . 540 
VII. Mary Magdalen anoints Jesus, .... 542 

VIII. The Procession of Palms, 547 

IX. Christ Weeps over Jerusalem, .... 553 
X. Jesus and the Barren Fig-tree, .... 556 
XI. "Unless the Grain of Wheat falling into the 
Ground shall die " — The Voice from Heaven : 
" That you may be the Children of Light," . 558 
XII. The Temple again Purged of Buyers and Sel- 
lers — "By what Authority dost thou these 
things?" 561 

XIII. The Parable of the Two Sons, . . . .565 

XIV. The Parables of the Wicked Husbandmen and 

of the King's Supper, 566 

XV. The Relation of Church and State, . . .569 
XVI. "They shall neither Marry nor be Married," . 571 
XVII. The Great Commandment— " What think you 

of Christ?" 575 

XVIII. "The Scribes and Pharisees have sitten on the 
Chair of Moses " — "Woe to you, Scribes and 
Pharisees" — The Widow's Mite, . . . 578 
XIX. The Unbelief of the Pharisees— The Union of 

the Messias with His Eternal Father, . . 585 
XX. The Terrible Prophecy of the Destruction of the 

City and the End of the World, . . .588 
XXI. The Prophecy of the End further enforced and 

enlarged, ........ 591 

XXII. Personal Application of the Vision of Judgment, 596 

XXIII. The Wise and Foolish Virgins— Faithful and 

Slothful Servants, 598 

XXIV. The Last Judgment, 601 

XXV. Jesus prepares for his Last Supper, and the 

Chief Priests make a Bargain with Judas, . 603 

XXVI. Jesus Celebrates the Jewish Passover, . . 607 

XXVII. Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet, . . . 610 

XXVIII. "Is it I, Lord?" 613 

XXIX. The Beginning of the Last Discourse— The De- 
nial of Peter foretold — Strife for Pre-eminence, 617 
XXX. The Last Discourse continued : " I have Prayed 
for Thee" — Second Prediction of Peter's De- 
nial — The Incident of the Two Swords, . .621 



CONTENTS. ix 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXXI. The Last Discourse continued : "I am the 

Way, the Truth, and the Life," . . .623 
XXXII. The Last Discourse continued : Jesus Dis- 
courses of the Holy Spirit — How the Father 
and the Son and the Spirit dwell in the 
Church and in the Soul of each Christian, . 625 

XXXIII. The Holy Eucharist, 630 

XXXIV. Jesus resumes His Discourse : Union with Him 

is the Condition of all Spiritual Life — The 
Identity of Joy and Love and Obedience — 
" Love one Another, as I have Loved You " — 
The Witness of the Spirit, . 633 

XXXV. The Last Discourse is concluded : Jesus Fore- 
tells Persecution — Renewed Promise of the 
Holy Ghost — Sorrow shall be turned into Joy, 637 
XXXVI. Jesus Prays for His Church, . . . .641 

XXXVII. Jesus begins His Passion, 645 

XXXVIII. The Agony in the Garden, 648 

XXXIX. Jesus is Betrayed with a Kiss, .... 656 
XL. The Resistance of the Apostles and their Flight, 658 
XLI. Jesus is led before Annas and Caiphas — The De- 
nial of Peter 660 

XLH. The First Trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin— 

Third Denial of Peter, 664 

XLHI. The Terrible Night of Holy Thursday, . . 669 

XLIV. Jesus before the Sanhedrin, .... 670 

XLV. The Despair of Judas and his Suicide, . . 672 

XL VI. Jesus before Pilate, 674 

XL VII. " Art Thou King of the Jews? " . . .677 
XL VIII. Pilate sends Jesus to Herod, . . . .680 
XLIX. ' ' Barabbas or Jesus ? ' '—Pilate's Wife's Dream— 

" Crucify Him ! " 684 

L. Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns — 

" Behold the Man ! " 688 

LI. Pilate's final Struggle — The Death-sentence, . 691 

LH. The Way of the Cross, 694 

LIU. The Crucifixion— The Inscription— " Father, 

Forgive Them ! " 698 

LIV. The Triumph of the Conspirators— The Good 

Thief— "Woman, behold thy Son!" . . 702 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

LV. The Death of Jesus, 708 

LVI. After the Crucifixion, 713 

I, VII. The Burial of Jesus, 717 



BOOK IV. 

THE RESURRECTION. 

I. The Resurrection — The Empty Sepulchre, . 723 
II. The Apparition of Jesus to Mary Magdalen, . 729 

III. The Apparition of Jesus to the Holy Women — 

How the Chief Priests explained the Resur- 
rection, 73a 

IV. Jesus Appears to Peter ; and to Two Disciples 

on the Road to Emmaus, ..... 736 
V. "Whose Sins you shall Forgive, they are For- 
given Them" — The Profession of Faith by 

Thomas, 739 

VI. Jesus Appears to Seven Apostles at the Sea of 

Tiberias — The Primacy of Peter, . . . 743 
VII. Jesus Appears to a great Multitude on a Moun- 
tain in Galilee — Apparition to St. James — The 
Commission of the Teaching Church, . . 751 
VIII. Jesus Ascends into Heaven, .... 754 
IX. The Election of Matthias— The Descent of the 
Holy Ghost— The First Preaching of the 
Apostles, 760 



EPILOGUE. 

JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. 

"Ye shall be as Gods," i 

" Lo, this is our God : We have waited for Him !" . . vii 

" My Lord and my God ! " x 

" I am the Light of the World," xiv 

" I know Mine and Mine know Me" xix 



INTRODUCTION. 



Our Saviour's People and Country, 



PALESTINE AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. 

Palestine, primi- 
tively known as Cha- 
naan, then Israel and 
Judea, is for the most 
part an extended and 
picturesque valley 
considerably elevated 
above sea level. Em- 
bosomed between two 
mountain chains, it is traversed from end to 
end by a single water- course, the far-famed 
river Jordan, which, rising at the foot of 
Mount Hermon, flows directly south, broad- 
ening in its northerly portion into the charm- 
ing Lake of Genesareth (otherwise called the Sea of 
Tiberias), and ending in the bitter waters of the 
Dead Sea. Between these two lakes the river flows in 
many turns, over shifting sands and among reeds and 
weeds, as if sadly conscious of bearing its bright 
waters to the cauldron of death, falling into the Dead 
Sea as if it were its grave. It is in reality the 
grave of Sodom and Gomorrha, once flourishing cities 
whose destruction seems still to be commemorated by 




2 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

bubbles of poisonous gas rising to the surface like 
the belchings of the volcanic giant after his feast. 

Chosen from the beginning as the scene of God's 
sojourn among men, Palestine is the meeting-point 
of the three grand divisions of the ancient world, 
Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is the geographical 
centre, as it was destined to become the religious 
heart of ancient civilization. Upon the banks of its 
holy river and its lakes, and over its plains and hill- 
sides, dwelt in our Saviour's time a little nation highly 
favored by God. It was indeed broken and conquered, 
but it still stood erect clasping to its bosom the sacred 
deposit of divine truth confided to its ancestors many 
ages before. At the coming of Christ Israel was 
reduced to a population of not more than three or 
four millions, its former military glory, together with 
political independence, departed for ever. Yet in the 
whole wide world it alone preserved the knowledge 
of the true God, one, infinite, eternal, the Creator 
and Judge of men. It was, withal, a race of hard 
heart and stiff neck, but yet the only one which had 
the law of God. This was written upon the pages 
of the national constitution and graven upon the living 
tablets of the people's hearts. Among all other nations 
the idea of God was almost wholly effaced from men's 
souls, or rather every forceful man was worshipped 
as God, every portentous element of nature, every 
good and evil passion. Outside of Palestine everything 
was God except the true God. 

This elect race was descended from Abraham the 
patriarch through his son Isaac and his grandson 
Jacob, or Israel. To each of these three, during the 
adventurous wanderings which made up their lives, 
God had repeatedly promised this land as the peculiar 
possession of their posterity. They, descendants of 



PALESTINE AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, 



the twelve sons of Jacob, were led to it by their 
great lawgiver, Moses, after suffering a very long cap- 
tivity in Egypt. During their journey across the 
desert of Arabia the children of Israel were favored by 
the divine interposition in most miraculous ways, until 
they were securely settled in this land of promise. 
It was "a land flowing with milk and honey," but 
its fruitfulness was conditioned upon the people's fidelity 
to God, for naturally it is subject to frequent visita- 
tions of drought. While the Israelites were true to 
God the soil was fruitful, and when they turned to 
false gods the hot wind of the desert blasted their 
fields and pastures. It was the divine purpose to com- 
pel the Jews to keep alive the fire of His true 
worship as in a carefully guarded sanctuary, until 
in the fulness of time it should be brought forth 
to illumine the whole world. 

The location was well chosen : on one side was 
the sea-coast almost entirely 
without good harbors, and on 
the other frontiers were bleak 
deserts or rugged mountains. 
The Israelites could easily hold 
their own against the neighbor- 
ing pagan nations, and ever did 
so except when God delivered 
them into the hands of their 
enemies in punishment or their 
sins. This little family of the 
Lord by His special providence 
in their location, their warlike 
ardor, the racial and social 
rules of the law of Moses, and 
the constant interference of His 
strong right arm, preserved the wells of moses. 







4 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

their strikingly peculiar traits of character and per- 
petuated their ancestral traditions of the true religion. 
The twelve tribes of Israel had at one era of their 
history become a powerful nation, whose golden age 
was under the kingship of David and his son Solomon. 
Afterwards it was broken into two separate and usually 
antagonistic kingdoms : that of Juda, embracing the 
tribe of that name and the tribe of Benjamin, whose 
capital was Jerusalem ; and that of Israel, composed 
of the other ten tribes. Many most important political 
changes afterwards took place, chief among them the 
long captivity of nearly the entire people in Babylon, 
the domination of Alexander the Great and his suc- 
cessors, and the wars of independence under the Macha- 
bees. Rome had conquered the country some sixty 
years prior to the birth of Christ, at which date it 
was a province of the vast empire ruled by Caesar 
Augustus. It was divided into four parts : Jerusalem 
was the seat of government for the whole province, 
with Judea for its immediate jurisdiction; Samaria, 
lying north of Judea, was another legal division ; yet 
further north was Galilee ; the nearer region beyond 
the Jordan was called the Perea. 

JERUSALEM AND JUDEA. 

Jerusalem, otherwise called Sion (perhaps the 
Salem of Melchisedech), was the centre of the Jewish 
religion. Wherever scattered, the hearts of the people 
yearned for Sion, the City of God, the site of His 
holy Temple. Happy the day when the weary pilgrim 
entered its gate to offer his prayers at the one spot 
on the whole earth in which God had commanded 
sacrifice to be offered to His sovereign majesty, and 
where He most lovingly listened to the prayers of His 
people — happier still the Jew who always dwelt in the 



JERUSALEM AND JUDEA. 



5 



sacred atmosphere of the Holy City. Every earnest 
Israelite trusted most firmly that this city was in God's 
own time, now close at hand, to fulfil the forebodings 
of the Roman soothsayers and conquer the world. 
Few of them, however, were willing to believe that 
this conquest would not be one of violence, but rather 
(according to the meaning of the city's name, the City 
of Peace) a moral and religious revolution as meek as 
it would be irresistible. 

The city was divided into three parts, or rather three 
hills : to the west and south Mount Sion ; to the east 
Mount Moriah, crowned by the Temple ; and the north- 
ern and most inhabited section, called Acra. The 
place was strongly fortified, being surrounded by 
frowning walls overlooking, in most parts, deep ravines, 
and garnished with beetling towers. At the time of 
Christ there were one hundred and fifty thousand resi- 
dents, a population enormously increased at various 
seasons by the great throngs of Jewish pilgrims from 
all over the world, drawn by the 
festivals of their religion. 

Although its ancient glory had 
departed, Jerusalem was a great 
and splendid city. Among its 
gorgeous palaces was that of 
King Herod the Great, standing 
on the northern slope of Mount 
Sion and adorned with a profusion 
of silver and gold and costly 
marbles. At the northern border 
was the magnificent tower called 
Antonia, once the abode of the 
heroic Machabees. It was now 
the fortress of the Roman garrison 
and dominated the whole city. 




THE GATE OF THE HOLY CITY, 








LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 
In it the governor of the coun- 



" . •- - ■ — ' *^r~ si i'**7-~rs*?S&. \Z^ ■ '■ ""'■■-"^■it; 



LAMPS IN THE TEMPLE. 



try was like the prison physi- 
cian holding the pulse of the 
criminal under torture and 
watching the limits of his en- 
durance. But palaces and for- 
tresses and governors and sol- 
diers could not take from Jeru- 
salem its true character : it was 
the Holy City. Everything 
gave place to religion, not only 
in the general seeming of things 
^^zm' but in the souls of the citizens 
and the multitudes of pilgrims. 
Jerusalem was crowned by the Temple of Jehovah, 
and Jehovah was uppermost in -the thoughts and 
affections of the people, however wildly and even | 
erroneously directed. Although the people of 
Israel were politically enslaved, yet experience 
had shown even the resistless Romans how dan- 
gerous it was to tamper with their faith. An | 
insult to the house of God or to the venerable 
rites of His worship transformed them into a 
nation of martyrs. 
The Temple — to the Jews the point of union between 
earth and heaven — was, says Josephus, of such dazzling 
beauty that from a distance it looked like a mass of 
snow sparkling in the sunlight. It was built of marble, 
and its interior was overlaid with plates of gold. The 
exterior was enclosed by a majestic colonnade forming 
the outer court, that of the Gentile converts ; a railing 
bearing I^atin and Greek inscriptions barred their en- 
trance to a second and more elevated court, in which 
worshipped the children of Abraham, the women being 
railed off from the more honorable place of the men. 



JERUSALEM AND JUDEA. 7 

Within this again, and raised still higher, was a court 
reserved exclusively for the priests and Levites, and 
sacred to the celebration of the sacrifices. Finally, 
there was the very sanctuary of the Temple, the Holy 
of Holies, quite hidden by the sacred veil, and whose 
precincts were trodden by the High-Priest alone. 

To the north and east of the capital were many 
memorials of Israel's glory; Jericho, which had fallen 
at the sound of the Levites' trumpets, now embowered 
in palm-trees and roses ; many ancient battle-fields of 
the long Philistine wars — the scenes of Samson's vic- 
tories, of David's conquest of Goliath, of the call of the 
father of the Machabees to the last successful war of 
liberation, and the final era of Israel's national inde- 
pendence. To the south was Bethlehem and the tomb 
of Rachel, and the field of Booz, in 
which Ruth, our Saviour's ancestress, 
had gleaned after the reapers and won 
her husband. But greater than all was 
Bethlehem itself. It was the city of 
David, and was foretold by Amos and 
other prophets as the birthplace of the 
promised Messias so often spoken of 
and saluted by the patriarchs, whose 
sacred ashes reposed in their rocky 
cells at Hebron, not far to the south- 
ward. Upon Bethlehem the eyes of 
all Israel were often turned in expec- 
tation of their Redeemer. 

An austere sect called Bssenes lived 
in a kind of community life near the 
Dead Sea. They renounced marriage, 
mortified the flesh with extreme sever- 
ity, and practised every hardship known 
to the ascetics. But they were, it seems, 




A-TheHoJy 

B. The Holy Place. 

■C. The Aitar of Bumi-offeitg* 

D The brazen Lavef 



L The pate Bduuful. 

J. The court of the Gentllea. 




; VWW O* TH* TX*PL 



TKE HOpTB , VI PUT *JTTEB 1 



8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



fatally tainted with oriental dualism, making evil a 
principle independent of good and identifying it with 
all material and physical existence ; hence their as- 
ceticism. They differed in this from the Jewish Naza- 
rites, who renounced all things from the truest motives 
and had ever been the mainstay of orthodox Judaism. 

THE PEREA AND THE TRANSJORDAN. 

Across the Jordan, the country stretching away 
east and north almost to the gates of Damascus was 
only in part a division of the Holy Land. It was 
roamed over by wild and scattered tribes, forefathers 
of the freebooting Bedouins of our own times, who 
had no share in the religious convulsions which we 
are going to narrate. To the Jews these people were 
like a thorny wilderness enclosing a fruitful vine- 
yard. Exception, however, must be made in favor 
of the region just east of the river lying between 
the Lake of Genesareth and the Dead Sea, and called 
the Perea. In spite of a sprinkling of pagans, its in- 
habitants were Israelites, fervent in their observance 
of the law of Moses. Their country was the land of 
Galaad, the native land of mighty Elias the Thesbite. 

Through the mountain pass- 
es of the Perea the twelve 
tribes had come out of the 
desert to the banks of the 
Jordan, and it had been as- 
signed to the tribes of Reuben 
and Gad as their portion of 
Israel's heritage — a stalwart 
people, ever ready to change 
the shepherd's crook for the 
Bedouin's lance in defence 
gate of Damascus. of the nation or of its God 





THE PEREA, TRANSJORDAN, AND SAMARIA, g 

Jehovah. There, too, in Mount Phogor, the heathen 
Balaam, having come out to curse the hosts of Israel, 
was forced by the Lord to bless them. Mount Nebo, 
also, was there, from whose summit Moses had re- 
joiced in the blessed sight of the Land of Promise, 
and seemed still to watch over the peo- 
ple of God and to renew the prophecy 
of a Saviour. 

SAMARIA. 

West of the Jordan, and bounded 
north and south by Galilee and Judea, 
was a little country called Samaria. Its 
people professed the Mosaic law, but 
were completely severed from the Jews, 
who hated them worse than swine-flesh 
and rated them lower than the heathen. BEDOUIN SHEPHERD BOY - 

They were of mingled Hebrew and pagan blood, being 
remnants of the original Israelites of the region who 
escaped the Babylonian captivity, but who were ab- 
sorbed into Assyrian colonies planted among the hills 
of Ephraim. The Samaritans gave back hate for 
hate. Masters of the best route from Galilee to 
Jerusalem, they molested the pilgrims on their jour- 
neys to and from the Holy City, often forcing them 
to take the roundabout way beyond the Jordan. 
Secretly they penetrated into the Temple and pol- 
luted the holy places ; they had a rival temple on 
Mount Garizim, in which ministered a schismatical 
priesthood. They rejected many books of the Hebrew 
Scriptures, holding only to the Pentateuch, of which 
they claimed to have the only genuine version. Mon- 
grel in race, they were also mixed in religion ; for 
if they adored Jehovah, they also honored the pagan 
gods — midway, as our Saviour placed them, between 



IO 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 







TOWER OF BETHEL 



the Jews and the heathen, saying to His Apostles : 
" You shall be witnesses of Me in Jerusalem and 
Judea, in Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the 
earth." 

Their chief city was Sichem, placed between 
Mounts Garizim and Ebal. Everywhere Samaria was 
sanctified by holy memories. Near Sichem, Abraham 
had sojourned; close at hand was Jacob's well; 
Josue had died in this vicinity, leaving to his peo- 
ple his wonderful testament. A little to the north 
of Sichem was the city of Samaria, in later times 
called Sebaste, and rebuilt and beautified 
by Herod the Great ; it had been in 
earlier ages the capital of the wicked 
race of Israel's kings. From their north- 
ern border the Samaritans looked across 
the plain of Esdrelon and beheld the 
lofty cliffs of Carmel, the place of prayer 
for great Elias. Near their southern 
limit was Siloh, where the Ark of the 
Covenant had so long been deposited ; 
and near by was Bethel, where Jacob 
had his vision of the heavenly ladder 
and had wrestled with the angel. 



M 



GALILEE. 

North of Samaria lay Galilee of the Gentiles, so 
called from its occupancy during many generations 
by pagan communities, only partially driven out by 
the Machabees. It embraced the ancient territory of 
the tribes of Issachar, Zabulon, Aser, and Nephtali. 
In its interior districts the population was genuinely 
Hebrew, but its capital, the city of Tiberias, on the 
shore of Lake Genesareth, was Gentile in race and 
religion and Greek in life and manners ; the same 



GALILEE. n 

may be said of some other scattered communities. 
But the country people and the dwellers in many of 
the smaller cities were full-blood descendants of Abra- 
ham. Yet their brethren in Judea looked upon the 
Galileans almost as hall-caste, ridiculed their barbar- 
ous accent and their rustic manners, and at best 
patronized them as rough country cousins. Neverthe- 
less, they were loyal children of Israel and a sturdy, 
handsome race besides. They were faithful to God 
and to their national traditions, brave in battle, in- 
dustrious and thrifty in time of peace. Their land, 
everywhere beautiful, was mostly fertile, though the 
northern part was broken by wooded hills and ravines, 
often the refuge of bandits and sometimes of insur- 
gents. About the Lake of Genesareth Galilee was 
like a beautiful garden, the climate favoring all the 
products of the temperate, and many of the tropical 
zone, amid the most radiant beauty of landscape and 
under a genial sky ; answering the prophetic blessings 
of Moses upon its early Hebrew owners, the tribes of 
Aser and Zabulon. The high road from the Mediter- 
ranean to Damascus and inner Syria passed across 
Galilee and around the north end of L,ake Genesareth, 
taking in Tiberias and Capharnaum. This artery of 
trade was of no small benefit to the Galileans in a 
material point of view and increased the population 
of their country; but it did not spoil their virtue. 

Nothing could spoil this strong race, in which both 
patriotism and religion sprang into active life from 
the same deep-planted root — love of the law of Moses. 
Every rood of ground furnished heroic memories to 
nourish these noble sentiments. The Plain of Bsdre- 
lon told of Gedeon's battle with the Madianites, of 
Saul's victory over the Philistines, of Achab's over 
the Syrians ; every hill and valley and stream of Gali- 



12 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

lee was sanctified as a memorial of some achieve- 
ment of the heroes of old for God and country. The 
valor of the stalwart tillers of this holy soil is wit- 
nessed not only by Josephus but by the Roman annal- 
ist Tacitus ; a warlike quality too often led astray 
into foolhardy and disastrous insurrections. 

The Messias chose this portion of the people of 
Israel as his kinsfolk, for they were the best type of 
Israelites. They were free from the morbid scrupulos- 
ity of the Pharisees as well as from the pagan im- 
morality and scepticism which stained the Sadducees. 
They assembled every Sabbath in their synagogues 
and listened reverently to their Rabbis expounding 
the religion of their forefathers, to which they were 
enthusiastically devoted. Into the gates of the Holy 
City their dusty caravans were seen passing at every 
great festival time. Meanwhile their contact with the 
Gentiles, if it had not corrupted their manly nature 
and primitive morality, had yet helped them to a 
broader view of religious questions, and they were 
less fanatical in the observance of petty details of re- 
ligious practice than the greater part of their brother 
Israelites. 

THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES. 

Among all the people of Israel the opening of the 
Christian era was an epoch of reviving religious fervor 
and patriotic sentiment. In the family circle as well 
as in synagogues, on the streets and in the fields 
and workshops, the common topic was a mingled 
praise of the law of Moses and lamentation over the 
enslavement of the nation. Unfortunately, this move- 
ment of minds was not well directed; it fell under 
control of a powerful school of rigorists called Phari- 
sees. These obtained a mastery over the people by 



THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES. 



13 



their zeal for God and country, but moved them 
rather to a minute observance of the external pre- 
scriptions of the law than to a more reasonable cul- 
tivation of its spirit They enforced a whole system 
of religious practices as tests of orthodoxy, many of 
them the mere inventions of an ingenious ritualism, 
others extravagant interpretations of the Mosaic forms. 
They assumed to be spokesmen of the Deity and 
final judges of all questions of the Jewish religion. 
They crushed out all liberty of spirit by their author- 
ity, which was as imperious as their rulings were 
subtle and narrow. To them, however, and to their 
associates the Scribes — learned copyists and expositors 
of the Scriptures — the people reverently looked for 
guidance. They were the only leaders who believed 
in God and His law ; yet they who looked to them for 
the bread of life were too often fed with husks of 
ritualism. Fasts were imposed wholly without warrant 
in the law, postures at prayer, ablutions, religious 
amulets, exorbitant tithes — a whole network of painful 
duties binding as strictly as the 
Decalogue, too complex to be 
even easily learned and impossi- 
ble of fulfilment. This it was 
that produced the condition of cen- 
soriousness and hypocrisy which 
we shall find our Saviour so often 
condemning. 

As might be expected, a vio- 
lent revolt against this enslave- 
ment of the religious spirit pro- 
duced a class precisely the re- 
verse of the Pharisees. The Sad- 
ducees threw off not merely the 
innovations of the Pharisees, but 




SCRIBES. 




A PHARISEE. 



14 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

even the valid observances of the Mosaic law. 
They scoffed, too, at the separatist principles of 
the Pharisees, mingled freely with pagans and fol- 
lowed their manner of living, frequenting even their 
lascivious public shows. They lived an easy life ; 
they sought an easy way of deciding religious ques- 
tions. They very commonly denied the immortality 
of the soul and the reality of a world of spirits, pro- 
fessing to believe in the Deity only, and that in 
the vaguest terms possible. Politically they were 
the willing tools of the Romans, and of Herod the 
Great and his sons. They were not popular with 
the masses of the people, who always love and follow 
fervent spirits. The Sadducees were comparatively 
few in number, and were of the richer class, having 
fattened on the favor of the public authorities. 

THE SYNAGOGUES AND THE SANHEDRIN. 

Every Jewish community throughout the land had 
at least one synagogue, which was the usual place 
of public worship and Scripture exposition. Each 
synagogue was governed by a body of 
elders, a chief or ruler, a master of cere- 
monies and a head usher, and these sent 
their representatives to the Sanhedrin. 
Of this body, formerly so powerful, the 
High-Priest was president. It had seven- 
ty-one members, made up of the Chief 
Priests or heads of the sacerdotal classes, 
together with delegates from the elders 
of the synagogues and representatives 
from the college or association of the 
Scribes. All that survived of national 
dignity in Israel was represented by the 
Sanhedrin, once in plenary possession 



THE ROMAN PO WER IN PALESTINE. 15 

of the executive and judicial authority over the 
nation. By its own connivance and consent the 
Romans had nullified its authority and even usurped 
its functions. 

THE ROMAN POWER IN PALESTINE. 

About two generations before the birth of Christ the 
Roman general Pompey had captured Jerusalem, slain 
the priests, profaned the Holy of Holies, appointed 
his creature Hyrcanus ethnarch, and made the coun- 
try part of the Roman province of Syria. Under 
Julius Caesar, Herod, surnamed the Great, a Gentile 
of Jewish faith, was appointed tetrarch of Judea, and 
by Antony and Octavius was made king, in vassalage, 
of course, to Rome. He is one of the most cruel 
monsters known to history, or even fable. Among 
his undoubted crimes are unheard-of oppression and 
massacre of the people, murder of his nearest kindred, 
and obtrusion of his creatures into the Sanhedrin 
and high-priesthood. His usurpation was perfect as 
far as suppression of Jewish liberty was concerned, 
while he in turn was most slavishly subservient to 
Rome. Upon his death, which happened shortly 
after our Saviour's birth, Rome divided his kingdom 
among his sons : Archelaus was made eth- 
1 narch of Judea, Herod Antipas tetrarch of 
Galilee and the Perea, Herod 
Philip tetrarch of Batanea and 
Trachonitis — the region lying to 
the north of Lake Genesareth — 
all strictly subject to Rome. 
Archelaus was deposed in the 
tenth year of his reign and his 
territory annexed to the Roman 
lamp used in synagogue, province of Syria. Herod Philip 




16 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

was generally a good ruler ; he survived our L,ord's 
mission only a few years. Herod Antipas was cruel, 
impious, and licentious ; he is the Herod who mur- 
dered John the Baptist, and to whom Pontius Pilate 
sent our Saviour on Good Friday. He was finally 
deposed by the Emperor Caligula and died in exile. 

These were some of the steps of the Roman colossus 
towards the entire extinction of Jewish independence 
and liberty. Another and a notable one was the 
imperial census taken at our Saviour's birth under 
Coponius, Sulpitius Quirinus being proconsul of all 
Syria. Two insurrections followed, and then the coun- 
try was more closely incorporated into the empire. 
A temporary relief was felt under the procurators 
Ambivius, Anius Rufus, and Valerius, who ruled 
with moderation. But under their successor, Pontius 
Pilate, who was appointed about five years prior to 
our Saviour's public ministry, the Jewish people 
were made subject to the Roman officials in every 
detail of government. The Roman procurator was 
master of life and death, being the chief judicial as 
well as administrative officer in the land. He was 
backed by a full military equipment, the Roman 
legions having detachments in every strong place and 
a large garrison not only at the official capital, Caesa- 
rea on the Mediterranean, but also in Jerusalem. 
Roman tax-collectors were at the gates of every town, 
and the tribute was rigorously exacted. In the 
heart's core of the venerable theocracy, the Holy City 
itself, the foreign domination was centred, supervising 
and completing the political disintegration of Israel. 

The idolatrous Roman procurator could at his 
caprice interfere with the divine sacrificial worship 
of the Temple, and he did not fail to do so, using 
the priesthood as an instrument for the people's sub- 



THE ROMAN POWER IN PALESTINE. 



17 



jection. The deep religious sentiment of the Jews, 
ingrained by racial tradition, by education, by the 
sincerest personal conviction, made the doctrine 
the worship of the Temple the supreme power of 
the nation, and the Romans knew well that they 
must secure the leaders of the priesthood L they 
would maintain their supremacy. Therefore, four- 
teen years after our Saviour was born, the Roman 
governor, Valerius Gratus, intruded a spurious High- 
Priest into the Temple in place of Annas, the legitimate 
one. Within four years two others were successively 
intruded, until, in spite of all protests of the people, 
one was found base enough to hold the place under 
Roman favor for nineteen years — Joseph Caiphas ; 
though, for all true Hebrews, Annas remain- 
ed the only lawful incumbent. We shall find 
St. Luke naming both of them as High- 
Priests, one being such by divine right, the 
other by the Roman usurpation. They 
managed cunningly to work together, An- 
nas being father-in-law of Caiphas. 

It was when our Lord began to preach 
that this lowest depth of degradation had 
been reached : three rulers in the politi- 
cal order, Pilate governing Judea, with 
his headquarters in Jerusalem ; the two 
Herods, Antipas and Philip, both slaves 
of Rome, having nominal authority over the rest of 
Palestine ; in the religious order two 
High-Priests, one real and secret, the 
other open and spurious. Could a 
worse condition of things be imag- 
ined? And what was the hope of 
Israel ? It was the promised Messias. 

HEAD-PIECES OF 
JEWISH PRIESTS. 




TYPES OF 
JEWISH 

PRIESTS. 





1 8 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

THE HOPE OF ISRAEL. 

Daily the faithful Hebrew, in his family devotions, 
prayed for the coming of his Saviour. In the public 
ceremonies of religion the sublime tones of the Mosaic 
liturgy eloquently chanted God's promise of a Re- 
deemer. Hence the strained look for His advent, 
especially at the opening of the Christian era, when 
the prophetic seventy weeks of years were nearly com- 
pleted. "Art thou He that is to come, or look we 
for another?" demanded the High-Priests of John 
the Baptist. Israel never ceased to hope. Whether 
groaning under persecutions or even scandalized by 
apostate High-Priests, the voice of the prophets, 
the last of whom was dead four hundred years, still 
echoed in the souls of the chosen people, still w T as 
implicitly believed, telling of the coming of the Saviour, 
the Desired of Nations, the Seed of the Woman, the 
Fruit of the Virgin's womb, the Lawgiver superior to 
Moses, the Child-God of the House of David. 
Whether wailing out his prayers in the Temple, or 
tearfully explaining the sacred promise to his children, 
or writhing beneath the heel of the Roman soldier, or 
wildly shouting defiance against the pagan stranger in 
bloody revolt, the true Israelite always trusted in the 
coming of his Messias. The people of God were about 
to be rewarded for having cherished this Grace of 
Expectation. 





(£ \H<-r V -;,lu.l,. 71 



II. 

THE WRITINGS WHICH TEEL OF JESUS. 

St. Paul's Epistles and the Acts oe the 
Apostles. 




HE first writings which told the Church 
I] about her Founder were probably the 
Epistles of St. Paul. Some of these, it is believed, an- 
tedate the earliest of the four Gospels. Throughout 
his writings St. Paul shows perfect familiarity with his 
Master, whom he had probably seen and heard in the 
flesh, and to whom he was drawn, after his conversion at 
the gate of Damascus, into an intimate spiritual union, 
filled with special revelations. From the divine pre- 
existence of Jesus to His guidance of the individual 
soul by His Holy Spirit, every principle of His re- 
ligion and many of the details of His life are narrated 
or expounded by this most powerful of Christian 
teachers. St. Luke, a disciple of St. Paul, has re- 
corded in the Book of the Acts the earliest public 
discourses on the life and doctrine of Jesus, namely, 
those of St. Peter and others of the disciples in the 
beginning of their ministry. These are brief sum- 
maries of the career of our Saviour, from His con- 
nection with the old Scriptures as the fulfilment of 
their prophecies, to His ascension into heaven and 
sending down the Holy Ghost, outlining His preach- 
ing, journeys, miracles, betrayal, accusation, trial, 
execution, and His resurrection from the dead. These 
witness the all-pervading knowledge of Christ and of 
His mission in the primitive Church ; but they are 
not the foremost sources of the Saviour's I,ife. Sur- 
passing all other evidence is the Gospel, the Glad 
19 



2o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Tidings, consisting of the four narratives of Matthew, 
Mark, L,uke, and John. 

THE FOUR GOSPELS. 

Brief as are these narratives, their power over the 
human mind, especially when read by seekers after 
a better life, is a wonderful fact in literary history. 
No book but God's book could so master the upright 
heart as the book of the Gospels has always done. 
In language which is a medium of incomparable clear- 
ness, facts are recited and rules of conduct are laid 
down which have superseded all previous moralizings 
and philosophizings, and capped with supreme beauty 
all former history. Simplicity is their foremost literary 
attribute ; nay, literary defects are everywhere found, 
lack of artistic grouping, fragmentary jumbling of 
occurrences and precepts, memoranda of apparently 
chance conversations ; yet the events are the manifest 
power of God. 

But Holy Church, divinely guided, could alone set- 
tle the question of their inspiration and authenticity. 

It is the divine and human character of Jesus 
Christ living, speaking, organizing, dying, rising and i 
ascending into heaven, that is shown in these books. 
If God be King of men, He is King in the king- 
dom of books, and so the book which tells of the 
Son of God may well be God's. This explains 
the tears of penitence its reading brings forth, like 
the touch of the rod of Moses on the rock in the 
desert ; this explains the ever-increasing veneration in 
which the Gospels are held by the best men and 
women in all ages. This power of the Four Gospels 
began immediately with their publication. We find 
them unanimously accepted in the Church as the 
Word of God as early as any extant records tell of 



THE FOUR GOSPELS. 



21 




the Christian people. Roman Africa is witnessed for 
by Tertullian ; Alexandria and Egypt by Clement ; 
Irenseus received them from Polycarp and witnesses 
for Greece and Asia Minor; Jnstin Martyr, bred and 
converted in Syria, quotes them in Rome; all citing 
them as irrefutable witnesses of the Christian faith. 
The Church of the martyrs could not be wrong, 
all wrong, hopelessly wrong, in a matter 
of such vital importance. 

Thus the peculiar and undeniable 
power of the Gospels over men generally 
is illustrated by the veneration in which 
they were held in the heroic age of our re- 
ligion. But, furthermore, the historical and 
extrinsic evidence which links these books ANCIENT BOOK OF the gospels. 
to the writers whose names they* bear is complete. 
Citations from them, attributing authorship to all the 
Evangelists respectively, are found in several Chris- 
tian writers who were themselves disciples of the 
Apostles, such as Clement of Rome and Polycarp of 
Smyrna. About the year 115 Papias, Bishop of 
Hierapolis, a disciple of the Apostles, says that 
"Matthew wrote the Saviour's discourses in Hebrew, 
and each one has translated his text as best he 
may. As to Mark, he is the spokesman of Peter, 
and has carefully written down whatever his memory 
retained." If we had more than a small fragment 
of Papias, we should doubtless find his testimony to 
Luke and John. Oral tradition is unbroken in its 
testimony that the present Gospels were originally 
the work of Matthew, Mark, Euke, and John — a form 
of evidence of conclusive force where the authentica- 
tion of a document, as in this case, is essentially 
joined to living faith, and in an organization like 
the Church of Christ created and perpetuated by the 



22 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



living word of preachers. Christian tradition, both 
early and late, is universally in favor of the authen- 
ticity of the Gospels, as well as of their inspiration. 
In fact, every species of human evidence establishes 
the Gospels as the work of men who actually saw 
and heard Jesus Christ, two of them, Matthew and 
John, writing what they personally knew, Mark and 
Luke what was imparted to them by other Apostles. 
The Great Book of the New Law is not the fantas- 
tic imaginings of Eastern mystics, but compilations of 
exact history. 

Thk Gospel of St. Matthew. 

Matthew was a Galilean employed as a. collector 
of the Roman tax — a publican. He was a full-blood 
Jew, originally named Levi, and was converted by 
Christ instantaneously, being called from his toll-booth 
by the Master. His Gospel, mainly addressed to the 
Jews, is written from their point of view ; his Jesus 
is the Messias of the law and the prophets. On his 

opening page Matthew af- 
firms and proves the legal 
right of our Saviour to the 
sceptre of King David. 
The Evangelist centres in 
his Master the converging 
realization of God's prom- 
ises of a Lawgiver supe- 
rior to Moses, the Saviour 
of mankind and the divine- 
ly accepted Victim of their 
sins, the Judge of the 
world, whose second com- 
ing would finally complete 
the covenant. His witness 




THE CALLING OF MATTHEW 



THE GOSPELS OF ST. MA TTHEW AND ST. MARK. 23 



to Jesus of Nazareth as the founder 
and organizer of a new and visible, 
though spiritual, kingdom, the Christian 
Church, is especially full. 

As to the date of the composition of. 
the first Gospel, no one places it later 



2, CT^iciCiCioyKcNioy 



KioreisHcec'epp 



among the Gentiles. 

The Gospel of St. Mark. 
As to the Gospel of St. Mark 



than thirty years after our Lord's Ascension, nor earlier oldest extant manu- 
than twelve. The primitive Church believed that its scr ^ ts of the Gos " 

* pels. 

original language was Hebrew, but there are intrinsic The first is from 

the codex preserved 

evidences which have led many to suppose that it was i n the Vatican Li- 
composed in Greek. It is quite probable that editions Action of MaA 
in both tongues were prepared under the author's xv i; n 8 - \ . 

* A The second is 

supervision : in Hebrew for the Jews of Palestine and from the codex dis- 
in Greek for those of the dispersion; that is to say, dorMn 1859 Tt the 
the numerous colonies of the Jewish people scattered {^2^ $t S s"inai" 

It is-St. John 11. 8. 

Note the correc- 
tion above line. 

Both these codices 
date from the first 

When Peter half of the fourth 

century. 

preached in Rome, under the influence of the 
Holy Ghost," says Clement of Alexandria, " an- 
cient tradition tells us that his hearers in great 
numbers called upon Mark to commit to writing 
what they had heard. Mark was fully possessed 
of it because he had long been Peter's disciple." 
And Peter approved Mark's Gospel and author- 
ized its public reading in the assemblages of the 
faithful. That it was Peter's teaching was the 
unanimous belief of the ancient Church. Writ- 
ten in Rome, and primarily for the Romans, it 
was inspired to suit the temper of the imperial 
race, bringing out the personal force of Jesus and 
His miraculous powers. It is Simon Peter's sim- 
ple plea for the majesty of his Master, and its un- 
affected power and its tone of deep sincerity make 




24 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




ANCIENT EPISTLE. 



it the most vivid narrative of the four Gospels, though 
not the most detailed nor the most profound. John- 
Mark, who thus served Peter in preparing it, was 
a disciple of Jesus, or almost one, when yet a youth 
living in Jerusalem. Peter found shelter in his 
mother's house when released from prison by the 
Angel (Acts xii. 12). He was with Paul and Bar- 
nabas in their first journey into Asia Minor, and 
was the cause of their separation at the opening of 
the second journey (Acts xv. 37). He finally became 
Bishop of the great Church of Alexandria. His 
Gospel, as appears from the Latinisms found in it 
and from other evidence, was written in Rome, in 
the Greek tongue, about the same time as that of 
Matthew. 

The Gospel, of St. Luke. 

St. L,uke's Gospel dates from about the sixtieth 
year after our Saviour's birth. Its writer, as St. Paul 
tells us, was a physician, and a native of the city 
of Antioch. He was bred a pagan, and after his 
conversion became a well-beloved disciple and co- 
laborer of the Apostle of the Gentiles. In several 
ways his narrative differs from the other three, for 
he is neither an unlettered man nor a Jew, but a 
Gentile whose style of writing is correct and even 
elegant, and whose mind demanded a great complete- 
ness of proof before yielding religious belief. Yet 
his Gospel shows him as full of the same unreserved 
faith as the other Evangelists. There can be no doubt 
that he wrote under the supervision of St. Paul, and 
when (II. Tim. iv. 11, 13) the Apostle says, "Only 
Luke is with me. . . . When thou comest, bring 
with thee . . . the books, especially the parch- 
ments," he means the material necessary to aid his 



THE THREE SYNOPTICS AND THE ORAL GOSPEL. 25 

Evangelist to prepare this Gospel ; to which he after- 
wards refers when he uses the phrase, " according 
to my Gospel." Luke does not claim more than the 
humble office of chronicler, addressing his narrative 
to a fictitious person : ' ' Forasmuch as many have 
taken in hand to set forth in order a narration of 
the things that have been accomplished among us : 
according as they have delivered them unto us, who 
from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers 
of the word : it seemed good to me also, having 
diligently attained to all things from the beginning, 
to write to thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 
that thou mayest know the verity of those words in 
which thou hast been instructed" (Luke i. 1-4). 

Luke's purpose was a consecutive history, based 
upon the oral and written statements of eye-witnesses, 
of the life and mission of the Saviour, beginning 
with His family and origin and ending with His as- 
cension. Hence he exhibits to us the race of Jesus, 
His birth, childhood and home life, followed by His 
public career, death and resurrection ; subsequent 
events, namely, the perfect organization of His Church 
and the story of its earliest years being told by him 
in that wonderful book, the Acts of the Cfmba » 

Apostles. Thus his work begins with 
Zachary and the Angel Gabriel in the Tem- 
ple at Jerusalem, and ends with the en- 
thronement of the Son of Mary by the 
Apostles in the imperial city of the Caesars. 




ANCIENT BOCKS. PENS, A2TD IXX3TASD. 



THE THREE SYNOPTICS AND THE ORAL 
GOSPEL. 

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are 
called the Synoptic, that is to say, parallel Gospels. 
This is because they are much alike in the form of 



26 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

their narrative and the choice of matter. Of the 
different events described, forty-two are common to 
all three, five are common to Mark and Luke, 
fourteen to Matthew and Luke, only seven being 
Luke's alone ; but these are mostly of surpassing 
importance. Matthew has but five occurrences in 
his Gospel which are not in the other two, and 
Mark only two. In the account of our Saviour's 
sermons the parallelism is often literal. 

Various explanations are offered to account for 
this similarity among three writers whose tastes and 
personal qualities were so different, and whose com- 
positions were made not only without concert but under 
influences quite diverse from each other. The most 
satisfactory explanation is the simplest one. It is 
that they all drew from one and the same source, 
namely, the oral Gospel. The Synoptics faithfully put 
into concise but complete form the narrative every- 
where passed from mouth to mouth among the con- 
verts of the Apostles, who themselves had tacitly 
if not expressly agreed upon a history of the 
Saviour's life and teaching which should be per- 
fectly uniform in its general features while admitting 
of slight verbal variations. From the very beginning 
this must, in some cases, have been put into frag- 
mentary notes by both teachers and taught for pri- 
vate use. 

When the three written Gospels were officially 
promulgated, the devoutly treasured notes and memo- 
randa scattered everywhere through the Church were 
superseded. There remained the Glad Tidings written 
by inspired hands ; the never-to-be-superseded oral 
Gospel meantime remaining embedded in the foun- 
dations of belief, while expressly certified by the 
writings of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It is to the 



THE THREE SYNOPTICS AND THE ORAL GOSPEL. 27 

timid attempts of other narrators, local and partial 
in their sphere, that St. Luke refers when he says : 
" Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set 
forth in order a narration of the things that have 
been accomplished among us." 

The explanation, therefore, of the synoptical char- 
acter of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 
both as to resemblances and differences, is found in 
the single oral Gospel of which these Evangelists 
gave three written versions. The oral Gospel had 
been agreed upon by the Apostles while still resident 
in Jerusalem, in which city St. Matthew put it in 
writing. St. Peter preached it in Antioch, where, 
doubtless, St. Luke first learned it ; and after he had 
become a disciple of St. Paul he wrote that Apostle's 
version of it. St. Peter bore it to Rome and there 
dictated it to his disciple St. Mark. 

The origin of the Synoptical Gospels, thus traced 
to the oral Gospel, accounts for the striking fact that 
the first three Evangelists are mainly concerned with 
the Saviour's discourses and miracles in Galilee, 
hardly adverting to His journeys to Jerusalem until 
the closing scenes of His life. The oral 
Gospel, from which they drew their mate- 
rial, dealt with the simpler principles of 
faith and the ordinary rules of conduct 
in the Christian's life, being the heritage 
of the common masses of mankind; — 
thus did our Saviour teach the vast crowds 
of country people gathered in the villages 
and on the hill-sides of Galilee, and thus 
did He discourse with His chosen fol- 
lowers in His familiar conversations. The 
doctrine is indeed sublime in the highest 
degree, but not so mystical and tran- preaching christ in the time 

OF THE APOSTLES, 




:S 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



scendent as that promulgated by the Master in the 
Holy City. Now, the lack of this teaching in docu- 
mentary form would have fatally injured our Saviour's 
teaching in succeeding generations. Therefore the 
Holy Ghost chose St. John, "the disciple whom Jesus 
loved," to supply the defect. 

THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN. 

Being of a naturally ardent temperament, this 
Apostle and his brother James were named by Jesus 
"Sons of Thunder." His father 
and mother, Zebedee and Salome, 
gave up all their substance as well 
as their two sons to the Master's 
discipleship, Salome becoming one 
of the great women of the Gospel. 
John was made instinct with the 
loftiest sentiments of which humani- 
ty is capable, having drank them in 
during his close companionship with 
Jesus, and afterwards with the mo- 
ther of Jesus, to whom he was given 
as adopted son and protector. With 
her he remained in Jerusalem after 
the Ascension and during many years of his apostleship, 
actively engaged in founding the Church in the Holy 
City, while the other apostles roamed over the whole 
world spreading the Glad Tidings. Tradition attributes 
to him that more perfect formation of ecclesiastical or- 
der and organization which history discloses at the end 
of the first century. The churches which others had 
founded he visited, being the survivor of all his 
brother apostles, setting in order and forming into 
a real spiritual kingdom the scattered believers in 
the Redeemer. He finally fixed his abode in Ephe- 




SALOME, THE MOTHER OF ST. JOHN 



THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN. 



29 



sus, the chief city of Asia Minor. Under the Emperor 
Domitian he suffered a painful exile in the Isle of 
Patmos, and at Rome was miraculously saved from 
death in a cauldron of boiling oil, into which he had 
been cast for the profession of the faith of Christ. 
He wrote his Gospel about the year 80, after all 
the other Apostles were dead and their generation had 
almost passed away, long after the destruction of Jeru- 
salem and the final dispersion of the Jews. He died 
in the reign of Trajan, about the end of the first 
Christian century. 

Unlike the other Evangelists, St. John always 
aims at teaching the Divinity of Christ, or at unveil- 
ing the hidden motives, the primary causes of His 
works and words. His natural disposition was con- 
templative, his relations with Jesus were most in- 
timate, and the epoch when God caused him to write 
stood in urgent need of closer study of the divine 
personality of the Redeemer. Of all the disciples, 
John's gaze penetrated most deeply into the inner 
life of our Lord. 

St. John is a perfect type of the contemplative 
East. His deep-gazing Semitic soul sees the profound- 
est mysteries in a clear 
light, and discourses of 
the union of the Godhead 
with humanity with the 
same spontaneous simplic- 
ity as he narrates the light- 
est outward occurrences of 
the Saviour's daily life. 
He seems overflowing with 
the ideas of the Incarna- 
tion, God becoming man, 
man elevated to the Deity. st. john in the island of patmos. 




3 o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

The other Evangelists, says Clement of Alexandria, 
have given us the bodily Gospel, St. John the spiritual 
Gospel. They have, indeed, shown forth the Christian 
faith by the events of the life of Jesus and by the 
plainer discourses of His mission, but St. John has 
revealed to us in a special manner the spirit of the 
Master. From the first words of his Gospel to the last 
we are under the spell of immediate contact with the 
divine generation of Jesus, as in the other Gospels 
we dwell more directly with His human nature. 

The providence of God reserved this Gospel to 
the last moments of inspired writing for special 
reasons. At the time it was written the Gnostics 
were propagating false mysticism, and in St. John is 
the root and branch, flower and fruit of true mysti- 
cism, union with the Deity through the Incarnate 
Word. Among Jewish converts the Kbionites were 
at that same time questioning the divinity of Christ, 
and here in St. John is the veil lifted, and the 
mystery of the God-Man dogmatically defined, elabor- 
ately and repeatedly expounded. St. John's is more 
a doctrinal than a historical Gospel. Yet he holds 
strictly to the chronological order of events, and thus 
often completes the narrative of his fellow-evangelists. 
The Messias, Redeemer, Wonder-worker, Teacher, 
of St. John is identical with the Jesus of Nazareth 
of Matthew, Mark, and I,uke. But in the Synoptics 
He is the people's preacher instructing the hill-folk 
of Galilee ; while in St. John He is indeed this, but 
above all He is the majestic and often defiant Master, 
disputing with the doctors of the law in the centre 
of Judaism, revealing the deep things of God to an 
audience capable of understanding them. Every- 
where in the Fourth Gospel we find the blending 
into one divine personality of the harmonies of the 



THE GOSPELS A TRUTHFUL NARRATIVE. 31 

infinite and the finite. It is a figure in the garb 
of common life, but in every feature and tone and 
gesture revealing the credentials of the highest leader- 
ship. 

THE GOSPELS A TRUTHFUL NARRATIVE. 

We have already shown that the Four Gospels 
are authentic ; that is to say, really the work of the 
men whose names they bear. Indeed, as sceptical a 
mind as Reuan's is willing to admit this. It is 
equally certain that they are a truthful narrative. 
One argument, and it is of decisive weight, is that 
no error or imposture has ever been proven against 
the Gospels. Could this whole history or any part 
of it be a lie and remain undetected amid the very 
people who were its contemporaries ? The Apostles 
were inferior to the learned class of the Jews as far 
as mental acquirements go : why were they not detected 
and exposed as frauds or fanatics? Why was no at- 
tempt made to do this ? Why have all subsequent 
attempts failed utterly to injure the integrity of 
their testimony ? The fact is, that their unsophisticated 
character made them the best witnesses. Meanwhile 
not one of them has the traits of a visionary. They 
write as only sensible men could write, calmly and 
earnestly, equally self-disciplined and enthusiastic, as 
became reasonable beings moved by intense convic- 
tion. They were too simple in the beginning to be 
impostors ; they were afterwards too powerful to be 
dupes. 

Another argument for their truthfulness is found 
in the writers' motives ; it is certain that the 
Evangelists had everything to lose and nothing to 
gain by writing their narrative. Their amazing his- 
tory could only end in persecution, fetters, torture, 



32 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

death. Did the}' not know this? Did they not calmly 
state the Saviour's own emphatic prophecy of it ? 
Yet they wrote, though they were absolutely certain 
of writing their own doom. They were perfectly in- 
different as to what might happen to them, conscious 
only of two things : their own truthfulness and the 
resistless impulse from above compelling them to 
write. They left consequences to God, telling noth- 
ing that was doubtful, wholly unconscious of their 
audience. Furthermore, their own unfeigned religious 
sentiment, heard as an undertone in their every utter- 
ance, reveals their motives. Their evident love of 
God is in entire harmony with the divinity of the 
system they represent : their motives and their doc- 
trine are of a piece. The very fact that the Apostles 
could preach and write the Gospel is a miracle in it- 
self: Galilean peasants could never have stated, and 
repeated, and expounded so exactly and consistently 
the dogmatic truths and moral precepts of a highly 
spiritual religion without divine assistance — without 
having been radically transformed into a higher order 
of men. 

Another, and to some minds a more conclusive, 
argument than an}^ is that drawn from the exist- 
ence of an overruling Providence. The authentic 
life of Jesus Christ and the summary of His relig- 
ious system are part of His mission. Either God did 
not send Him, or God will make sure that He shall 
be faithfully made known to succeeding generations. ■ 
If the teaching of this foremost of God's messengers 
is not accurately given in the Gospels, where is it 
given ? The mere suspicion of falsehood in the nar- 
rative would nullify the supremacy of Christ. Is it 
credible that faithless followers should be permitted 
by Providence to substitute their impostures for the 



THE CHURCH AND THE GOSPELS. 



33 



true teaching of the Being whom the mass of man- 
kind joyfully recognize, and cannot help but accept, 
as the highest representative of the Deity ? — or that 
dreamers should substitute their ravings for His doc- 
trines ? The Incarnation is a bitter mockery to hu- 
manity if Jesus Christ be not wholly His veritable 
self, living and speaking in these holy books and in 
His Church. If the Church of Christ and His holy 
Gospels can be deceivers of men, then Christ in as- 
cending to heaven left us worse than orphans. 
"And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you 
another Paraclete, that He may abide with you 
forever." This Spirit of truth "will teach you all 
things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever 
I shall have said to you " (John xiv. 16, 26). And 
this interposition of the Divine Spirit the Apostles 
felt and affirmed as a transforming power sustaining 
them from the day of Pentecost (I. Peter i. 12) ; 
"as it is now revealed to His holy Apostles and 
prophets in the Spirit" (Eph. iii. 5). If God thus 
safeguarded the spoken word which flowed in a 
living stream throughout the world, much 
rather the written word, which must remain 
during the lapse of ages in the custody of 
His Church. 

THE CHURCH AND THE GOSPELS. 

Let us say a word about the relation of 
the Church to the Gospels, which is that 
of a most intimate and inseparable union. 
Although the New Testament is not to the 
Church of Christ what the Old Testament 
was to the Jewish Church — for that was a 
religion of a book — yet the Holy Spirit gave 

„„ „ : 1 i ., . LA -, r THE KEEPER OF THE TORAH, OR 

us a priceless boon in the written word of book of the law. 




34 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the New Dispensation. Of course we know that the 
Redeemer of men and the Founder of the Church did 
not write any portion of the Scriptures ; He did not 
command them to be written ; of all the Apostles only 
six wrote anything now extant ; some of the most im- 
portant parts of the New Testament were written by 
men who were not Apostles — St. Luke was not even a 
disciple ; the Apostles did not jointly and officially 
approve of it or any part of it, except in a vague 
mention of St. Paul's Epistles by St. Peter ; the 
Gospels and other parts of the New Testament were 
produced at divers times and for separate purposes ; 
none of them explicitly lays claim to inspiration ; 
nor does any part claim to be conterminous with the 
oral Gospel which was the first in use. Of course, 
again, we know that the Church preceded the written 
Gospel ; the religion of Christ was fully organized 
without any written code ; the Christian Brother- 
hood antedates the Christian Scriptures ; preaching 
went before writing — preaching and organization. 
Christianity, unlike Judaism, is not essentially a re- 
ligion of a book ; it is essentially a Brotherhood, a 
Church. To the Church the Scriptures belong as 
common property, not to individual members as pri- 
vate property. Hers it was to know their inspiration 
infallibly, hers always infallibly to explain their 
meaning, to superintend their distribution and per- 
petuation. The history of the New Testament in its 
origin, arrangement of its parts, and the belief of 
Christians in its inspiration, shows the need of the 
Church to establish the written truth of God among 
men. 

All this being true, we also know the inestima- 
ble uses of the New Testament to the Church in 
her mission to sanctify men's souls. This is beauti- 



FOUNDATIONS OF OUR NARRATIVE. 35 

fully described by St. Francis de Sales by the follow- 
ing illustration. He compares God to a painter, the 
Church to His brush, the Scriptures and divine 
tradition is the color, and the soul of man is God's 
canvas. He saturates His Church with revealed 
truth as a painter fills his brush with paint, and, 
just as the artist by his brush transfers his own 
mental picture to his canvas, so God teaches, guides, 
influences, sanctifies men by the wisdom and ordi- 
nances and graces of His Divine Son by means of 
His Church. 

It is from the Gospels, witnesses so true and so 
sacred, that we are to construct the Life- of Jesus, 
and almost exclusively from them ; not only because 
little of importance can be learned from pagan and 
Jewish sources, but also because the testimony of 
the Evangelists is incomparably the best that could 
be desired. The narrative, though plainly incomplete 
in many details — professedly so — yet, by patient com- 
parison of dates and places as given in the various 
accounts, is readily fitted into a complete history. 
At any rate, the effect on our souls does not depend 
on such questions as whether Jesus was here or 
there at this or that particular day ; we have a 
knowledge of all His glorious doctrine and all His 
wonderful deeds in fairly consecutive order. 

The Iyife of Christ falls naturally into three divi- 
sions. The first is the preparatory and mostly Hidden 
Iyife of our Saviour, from the visits of the Angel 
to Zachary and to Mary until the proclamation of 
the Messias by John the Baptist. It occupies thirty 
years, and includes the two marvellous messages from 
Heaven, the Birth of the Baptist and of Jesus, the 
visit of the Wise Men from the East, the Presenta- 



36 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

tion in the Temple, the Flight into Egypt and the 
massacre of the Innocents, and the losing and find- 
ing of the Child Jesus by His parents. 

The second part is the Public I^ife of Jesus, the 
teaching of His doctrine and the organizing of His 
Church. In Galilee, in Judea, even in Samaria, we 
shall follow Him preaching the kingdom of God 
and working miracles, all appropriate to the good 
and evil tendencies which He brought to light among 
the people, as a physician develops the symptoms 
and discovers the health reserves of his suffering 
patient, prescribing His remedies of divine truth, 
and choosing for the perpetuation of His healing His 
staff of spiritual physicians — founding His Church 
in the persons of His Apostles and disciples. At 
well-chosen times, Jesus will boldly advance His 
cause from Galilee and the other outlying provinces 
into Judea itself, and make Jerusalem the centre of 
His activity, and, alas ! the field of battle. Three 
times He appears in the Holy City. Once suddenly, 
at the feast of Tabernacles, when He proclaims solemn- 
ly His divine mission, quickly eludes the snares of 
His enemies and escapes out of the city. Again, at 
the feast of the Dedication of the Temple, when He 
publicly and more boldly reaffirms His office of Mes- 
sias. And again, at the last Passover of His life, 
when He enters in triumph amid the plaudits of the 
people, and ends all by permitting His enemies to 
put Him to death. But each of these manifestations 
in the city is preceded by journeys into the neighbor- 
ing districts of Judea, across the Jordan, and into 
Samaria, spent in mingled retirement for the sake 
of prayer and in teaching the people. So, there- 
fore, when the hour of His death sounded, Jesus had 
been seen and heard throughout all Israel. 



FOUNDATIONS OF. OUR NARRATIVE. 



37 



The third part of the Life narrates the end of 
Jesus Christ. The Divine Victim, delivering Him- 
self into the power of His enemies, is immolated for 
the salvation of the world : His enemies have gained 
the victory. But Jesus raises Himself from death to 
life, completes the teaching and organizing of His 
Church, and ascends on high to take possession of 
His glory. The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon 
the Apostles and their establishment of their Master's 
religion is the sequel. 




BOOK I. 



The Hidden Life of Jesus. 



38 to 4* 



THE HIDDEN LIFE OP JESUS. 




CHAPTER I. 

THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST 

jf Luke i. 5-56. 

T. JOHN THE BAPTIST was the 
saint with whom it pleased God to 
close the older dispensation and its 
long line of heroes — a saint whose 
virtues should be a worthy type 
of the ancient glories of Israel. His 
origin was from the purest sources 
of Hebrew holiness, the venerable couple Zachary 
and Elizabeth, and was intimately joined to the con- 
ception and birth of the Messias, of whom he was 
appointed to be the precursor. 

' ' There was in the days of Herod the king of 
Judea, a certain priest named Zachary, of the course 
of Abia, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, 
and her name Elizabeth. And they were both just 
before God, walking in all the commandments and 
justifications of the Lord without blame." They were 
lonely in their old age, for the Lord had afflicted 
Elizabeth with sterility, among the Jews a mark of 
God's disfavor. "And they had no son, for that 
Elizabeth was barren, and they both were well ad- 
vanced in years." 

Zachary was a devout servant of the divine altar, 
far removed from the worldliness of some of his brother 

41 




TABLE OF SHOW-BREAD. 



42 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

priests and the petty externalism of others. He and 
his wife (who was a cousin of Mary of Nazareth) 
bore patiently the weary years of their childlessness. 
They had prayed earnestly for a son, and when God 
had allowed the time of child-bearing to pass away, 
they were submissive to His will. Their prayers and 
their patience were destined to be miraculously re- 
warded. 

It was to Zachary that it pleased God to send the 
earliest announcement that the world's redemption 
was at hand. In the performance of his priestly 
duty in the Temple he had entered the Holy of 
Holies to offer incense. This was a function 
which he must celebrate entirely alone and in 
the seclusion of Israel's most awful sanctuary, 
the multitude being prostrate in prayer without. 
We may well suppose that God opened this true 
priest's heart to the entire race of mankind in pre- 
paration for his marvellous vision, but especially that 
his holy soul, forgetting personal unworthiness, ex- 
panded and embraced in its offering to God His own 
chosen race, upon whom Zachary well knew all other 
races depended for their redemption. As the fragrant 
incense ascended it bore his heartfelt petitions up- 
ward to the throne of grace. 

As Zachary stood in the holy place, at his right 
hand was the table bearing the loaves of proposition, 
and the seven-branched candlestick at his left ; 
immediately in front was the altar of incense, 
shining with purest gold, its door covered with a 
purple veil. Suddenly a flashing light dazzled 
and almost blinded him, — at the right side of 
the altar, just beside the bread of proposition, 
^ stood an angel of the Lord. Zachary's humility 
mcENSE-ALTARs. overwhelms him : is this a visitation for his sins ? 




CONCEPTION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



43 



? ' He was troubled and fear fell upon 
him." The angel speaks and fear 
gives place to a thrill of ecstasy : 
v Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer 
is heard ; and thy wife Elizabeth 
shall bear thee a son. ' ' As the angel 
goes on with the amazing message 
the aged priest's bosom swells with 
joy — a man-child sent from God ! to 
be named John, Jehochanan — mean- 
ing the favor of Jehovah ! More, oh ! 
wonderfully more : he is to be a 
prophet, another Elias, a leader of 
Israel, "to prepare unto the L,ord 
a perfect people." 

But the suddenness of the revela- 
tion, the great angel, the amazing 
promise — it was, all too much for 
even Zachary 's faith to accept with- 
out a momentary reaction. " Where- 
by shall I know this ?" he trembling- 
ly asked, " for I am an old man, and 
my wife is advanced in years. ' ' The 
angel simply insisted, "lam Gabriel 
who stand before God, and am sent 
to speak to thee." He deigned to give no further 
explanation, but struck Zachary dumb for his hesi- 
tation in receiving his message. It is noticeable 
that when Abraham under similar circumstances 
begged an explanation from God, he was given it 
and not punished for asking. Plainly, God is now 
going to do wonders superior to those of the olden 
time, and He will demand a more implicit faith. 

1 ' And the people were waiting for Zachary ; and 
they wondered that he tarried so long in the 



THE VISION OF ZACHARY. 

And it came to pass, when he executed 
the priestly function in the order of his 
course before God, according to the cus- 
tom of the priestly office, it was his lot to 
offer incense, going into the temple of the 
Lord : and all the multitude of the people 
was staying without at the hour of in- 
cense. And there appeared to him an 
Angel of the Lord, standing on the right 
side of the altar of incense. And Zachary 
seeing him was troubled, and fear fell upon 
him ; but the Angel said to him : Fear 
not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard ; and 
thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, 
and thou shalt call his name John : and 
thou shalt have joy and gladness, and 
many shall rejoice in his nativity. For he 
shall be great before the Lord : and shall 
drink no wine nor strong drink ; and he 
shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even 
from his mother's womb. And he shall 
convert many of the children of Israel to 
the Lord their God. And he shall go be- 
fore him in the spirit and power of Elias; 
that he may turn the hearts of the fathers 
unto the children, and the incredulous to 
the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the 
Lord a perfect people. And Zachary said 
to the Angel : Whereby shall I know 
this ? for I am an old man, and my wife 
is advanced in years. And the Angel an- 
swering, said to him : I am Gabriel who 
stand before God ; and am sent to speak to 
thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. 
And behold thou shalt be dumb, and shalt 
not be able to speak until the day wherein 
these things shall come to pass ; because 
thou hast not believed my words, which 
shall be fulfilled in their time. 



44 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 
When he came forth they perceived by 



Temple. 

his altered appearance that some marvel had hap- 
pened to him. "And when he came out he could 
not speak to them, and they understood that he 
had seen a vision in the Temple." His voice was 
gone, but he managed to inform his priestly brethren, 
and through them the people, that he had been 
granted a vision from heaven. His return home to 
Elizabeth was a more joyous announcement of the 
great event. " And it came to pass, after the days 
of his office were accomplished, he departed to his 
own house. And after those days Elizabeth his wife 
conceived ; and hid herself five months, saying : 
Thus hath the Eord dealt with me in the days 
wherein he hath had regard to take away my re- 
proach among men." But Zachary's punishment of 
dumbness (and, it is plain, of deafness also) lasted 
during his wife's pregnancy. 

Six mouths of Elizabeth's time had elapsed when 

she was visited by Mary of Nazareth, bearing Jesus 

in her womb. Mary came to wait upon her aged 

cousin during the time of her confinement, and also 

to confide to her the secret of her 

divine maternity. But as Mary began 

to speak, Elizabeth's child leaped in 

her womb for joy : the Messias 

had made Himself known to His 

precursor ; at a later day it would 

be John's high prerogative to 

make Jesus known to all Israel. 

Of what happened at this visit 

of Mary to the aged couple 

we will in due time tell more 

in detail. Suffice it to say 

" And whence is this to me, that the mother of 

my Lord should visit me " (Luke i. 43). now, that Mary IOUnd in 




THE BIRTH AND CIRCUMCISION OF JOHN, 45 

Elizabeth the sacred confidant she sought, and that 
she ministered lovingly to her during her child labor 
and at the birth of John. 



CHAPTER II. 

THF, BIRTH AND CIRCUMCISION OF JOHN. — THE CAN- 
TlCIvK OF ZACHARY. 

Luke i. 57-80. 

How happily passed the last period of Elizabeth's 
pregnancy in such company, in the exchange of 
such tidings from above ! When her son was born 
this gladness was spread among all their friends and 
neighbors. " Now Elizabeth's full time of being de- 
livered was come, and she brought forth a son. And 
her neighbors and kinsfolks heard that the Lord had 
shewed His great mercy towards her, and they con- 
gratulated with her." 

As in the case of other great heroes of God's peo- 
ple, the Holy Ghost would be the precursor's god- 
father and would choose his name. " And it came 
to pass that on the eighth day they came to circum- 
cise the child, and they called him by his father's 
name, Zachary. And his mother answering, said: 
Not so, but he shall be called John. And they said 
to her: There is none of thy kindred that is called 
by this name." Not for earthly kinship was John 
named, but for the entire race of mankind, God's en- 
tire family. The writing down of the heaven-given 
name was the talisman that loosened Zachary's tongue. 
" And they made signs to his father, how he would 
have him called. And demanding a writing-table, 
he wrote, saying : John is his name. And they all 
wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened 
and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God." 



46 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



Immediately John took his place as a child of re- 
ligious hope among the people. "And fear came 
upon all their neighbors : and all these words were 
divulged over all the mountainous country of Judea. 
And all they who had heard' them laid them up in 
their hearts, saying : What a one, think ye, shall this 
child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him." 
Our farewell glimpse of the beau- 
tiful old couple of elect souls is 
Zachary, all transfigured with divine 
inspiration, holding his sanctified 
child in his arms and singing the 
Benedictus, Mary and the other 
friends of the family grouped about 
him. The theme of this divine 
poem is God's constant friendship 
for His people, not forgetting the 
nations ' ' that sit in darkness and 
the shadow of death." 

This hymn of praise and prophecy 
has ever since resounded in Holy 
Church. It is the refrain of every 
day's divine chant in all our clois- 
ters, and its tones of confidence in 
God are among the last echoes of 
the Church's prayer at the Chris- 
tian's burial. It is an outburst of true Jewish enthu- 
siasm, nourished by the hopes and promises of the 
Messias ; but it is also a song of great-hearted love to- 
wards all mankind, of promise for every child of man 
languishing in the shadow of sin and delusion. It 
ends with the manner of the new gift's distribution, 
which is not by the sword but by the "beautiful feet" 
of those who shall publish the Glad Tidings in the 
ways of peace. 



THE SONG OF ZACHARY. 

And Zachary his father was filled with 
the Holy Ghost : and he prophesied, say- 
ing : Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, 
because he hath visited and wrought the 
redemption of his people: and hath raised 
up a horn of salvation to us, in the house 
of David his servant : As he spoke by the 
mouth of his holy prophets, who are from 
the beginning : Salvation from our ene- 
mies, and from the hand of all that hate 
us : To show mercy to our fathers ; and to 
remember his holy covenant. The oath 
which he swore to Abraham our father, 
that he would grant to us : That being de- 
livered from the hand of our enemies, we 
may serve him without fear, in holiness 
and justice before him all our days. And 
thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of 
the Most High : for thou shalt go before 
the face of the Lord, to prepare his way : 
To give knowledge of salvation to his peo- 
ple, unto the remission of their sins, 
through the bowels of the mercy of our 
God : in which the Orient from on high 
hath visited us : To enlighten them that 
sit in darkness, and in the shadow of 
death : to direct our feet into the way of 
peace. 



THE BIRTH AND CIRCUMCISION OF JOHN. 



47 



St. Iyuke now leaves John, to find him again thirty 
years later. " And the child grew, and was strength- 
ened in spirit : and was in the deserts until the day 
of his manifestation to Israel." Always in solitude 
have men of the nobler kind found the fire which 
could best temper their souls; solitude is the school 
of the higher order of minds. The ideal leader of 
men is formed by God in the desert, where the in- 
visible world finds an accompaniment in visible nature 
solemn enough for its sacred lessons. To the wilder- 
ness, therefore, John was called, as had been called 
before him all the Hebrew prophets, whose glorious 
procession he was destined to close. 




48 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER III. 

THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF JESUS CHRIST. 
John i. 1-14. 

As Jesus is both God and man, we trace His ori- 
gin, under the guidance of the Evangelists, to God 
the Father in the heaven of heavens for His divine 
nature ; and as son of Mary, we follow his genealogy 
back through King David to Abraham and Adam : 
Son of God and Son of Man. Sts. Matthew and 
Luke guide us in investigating the human sonship ; 
St. John was chosen by the Holy Spirit to establish 
in a special manner the divine Sonship. 

The teaching of Christ's divinity *is not, however, 
the office of St. John exclusively, for the other Evan- 
gelists are one with him in this. But they were not so 
specially chosen to elucidate the supreme dogma as 
he who was by excellence the beloved disciple. They 
wrote, as we have seen, very many years before he 
did and during a period when the main purpose of the 
Church was the conversion of the Jews, fiercely suspi- 
cious of what might be hurtful to monotheism. Yet 
with the Synoptics Jesus is God : Emmanuel, which 
is God with us ; Son of God without restriction of 
meaning, and in a manner essentially above the usual 
meaning of the term as applied to holy men. They 
aimed at forcing the Jews to bring out the divinity 
of Christ for themselves, using such terms, and es- 
pecially applying the prophecies about the Messias 
in such a sense, as to suggest the divinity to a think- 
ing mind. Meantime the oral Gospel was everywhere 
among the converts ; the living word of every teacher 
continually pressed home this great truth with full 
explanations. When John wrote, the time was ripe 



THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF JESUS CHRIST. 



49 



for all, even foes of the Church, to know her funda- 
mental doctrine in its integrity, as, indeed, all who 
had been baptized had known and believed it already. 
And we shall do well ever to bear in mind the 
union of the divine and human natures in the one 
divine person of Jesus. This, firmly grasped, will clear 
up many difficulties in the amazing life we are to study, 
and will guide us securely into the secret of when to 
strive to imitate Jesus and when simply to adore Him. 

The Greek term Logos, "the 
Word," is what served St. John in 
telling the Jews of the Dispersion 
about our Saviour's divine nature, 
for it was an expression used in 
their Greek version of the Scripture 
(Prov. viii.) It meant to them the 
uncreated wisdom of the Deity. In 
the beginning God was the Un- 
created Wisdom — before all time, 
and therefore eternal. But this 
God, God the Word, was also with 
God. Now, to be with God is to 
be distinct from God; therefore 
God is both God the Word and 
God the Father. Yet is there in 
these two persons but one God- 
head, for St. John not only says 
' ' the Word was with God ' ' but also 
"the Word was God." The Word or Son, though 
a Divine Person, distinct from the Father, is none the 
less in essence one with Him, a different person of the 
one same being, consubstantial — that is to say, of one 
substance — with the Father. Of this uncreated and 
eternal Son of God does St. John say, "The Word 
was made Flesh." 



"THE WORD WAS GOD." 

In the beginning- was the Word, and the 
Word was with God, and the Word was 
God. The same was in the beginning 
with God. All things were made by him : 
and without him was made nothing that 
was made. In him was life ; and the life 
was the light of men : and the light shineth 
in darkness ; and the darkness did not com- 
prehend it. There was a man sent from 
God, whose name was John. This man 
came for a witness, to bear witness of the 
light, that all men might believe through 
him. He was not the light, but was to bear 
witness of the light. That was the true light, 
which enlighteneth every man that cometh 
into this world. He was in the world, and 
the world was made by him ; and the world 
knew him not. He came unto his own ; 
and his own received him not. But as 
many as received him, to them he gave 
power to be made the sons of God, to them 
that believe in his name : Who are born, 
not of blood, nor cf the will of the flesh, 
nor of the will of man, but of God. And 
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among 
us : and we saw his glory, the glory as of 
the only begotten of the Father, full of 
grace and truth. 



5o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

We shall often find in the Gospels the doctrine of 
the Third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost, — 
the Uncreated and Eternal Love of God, as the Son 
is the Uncreated and Eternal Wisdom. Thus we 
have the revelation of the fundamental Christian doc- 
trine of the Trinity, one God in three divine persons, 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 

The Word is light and life. " In Him was life, 
and the life was the light of men, " " enlightening 
every man that cometh into this world." If any man 
is not enlightened, he is like a blind man at midday; 
if he cannot see, the fault is not in the sunshine but 
in his darkened eyes. That all men might see and 
follow the light, "the Word was made flesh." They 
then saw His glory, "the glory of the only begotten 
of the Father," the glory of grace from God, and of 
truth overflowing from God into men's souls. 

The Evangelist St. John was himself of those who 
with their own eyes saw the divine and eternal Word 
in the flesh as a man sees his own brother. He it 
is who so faithfully narrates the union of each souli 
with God through Christ — the birth of the soul of I 
man into the new life of light and virtue, elevating 
it into a condition altogether above human knowledge 
and human goodness, being a condition natural not to 
men but to God, "born not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 
As this partaking of God is our divine genealogy by 
adoption, so it is that of Christ by nature. He is 
essentially God and the Son of God, not created but 
born of the Father before all ages : God of God, 
Light of Light, true God of true God. His divine 
origin is the starting point of St. John in his wonder- 
ful narrative. 



THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST. 



51 



CHAPTER IV. 



THK DESCENT OF JESUS ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. 
Matt. i. 1-17 ; Luke Hi. 23-38. 



THE GENEALOGY ACCORDING TO 
ST. MATTHEW. 

The book of the generation of 
Jesus Christ, the son of David, 
the son of Abraham : Abraham be- 
got Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. 
And Jacob begot Judas and his 
brethren. And Judas begot Phares 
and Zara of Thamar. And Phares 
begot Esron. And Esron begot 
Aram. And Aram begot Amina- 
dab. And Aminadab begot Naas- 
son. And Naasson begot Salmon. 
And Salmon begot Booz of Rahab. 
And Booz begot Obed of Ruth. 
And Obed begot Jesse. And Jesse 
begot David the king. And David 
the king begot Solomon, of her 
that had been the wife of Urias. 
And Solomon begot Roboam. And 
Roboam begot Abia. And Abia 
begot Asa. And Asa begot Josa- 
phat. And Josaphat begot Joram. 
And Joram begot Ozias. And 
Ozias begot Joatham. And Joa- 
tham begot Achaz. And Achaz be- 
got Ezechias. And Ezechias begot 
Manasses. And Manasses begot 
Amon. And Amon begot Josias. 
And Josias begot Jechonias and his 
brethren in the transmigration of 
Babylon. And after the transmi- 
gration of Babylon, Jechonias begot 
Salathiel. And Salathiel begot 
Zorobabel. And Zorobabel begot 
Abiud. And Abiud begot Eliacim. 
And Eliacim begot Azor. And 
Azor begot Sadoc. And Sadoc be- 
got Achim. And Achim begot 
Eliud. And Eliud begot Eleazar. 
And Eleazar begot Mathan. And 
Mathan begot Jacob. And Jacob 
begot Joseph the husband of Mary, 
of whom was born Jesus, who is 
called Christ. So all the genera- 
tions from Abraham to David are 
fourteen generations. And from 
David to the transmigration of 
Babylon are fourteen generations : 
and from the transmigration of 
Babylon to Christ are fourteen 
generations. 



THE GENEALOGY ACCORDING TO 
ST. LUKE. 

Jesus being (as it was supposed) 
the son of Joseph, who was of 
Heli, who was of Mathat, who 
was of Levi, who was of Melchi. 
who was of Janne, who was of 
Joseph, who was of Mathathias, 
who was of Amos, who.was of Na- 
hum, who was of Hesli, who was of 
Nagge, who was of Mahath, who 
was of Mathathias, who was of 
Semei, who was of Joseph, who 
was of Juda, Who was of Joanna, 
who was of Reza, who was of 
Zorobabel, who was of Salathiel, 
who was of Neri, who was of 
Melchi, who was of Addi, who was 
of Cosan, who was of Helmadan, 
who was of Her, who was of Jesus, 
who was of Eliezer, who was of 
Jorim, who was of Mathat, who 
was of Levi, who was of Simeon, 
who was of Judas, who was of 
Joseph, who was of Jona, who was 
of Eliakim, who was of Melea, 
who was of Menna, who was of 
Mathatha, who was of Nathan, 
who was of David, who was of 
Jesse, who was of Obed, who was 
of Booz, who was of Salmon, who 
was of Naasson, who was of 
Aminadab, who was of Aram, who 
was of Esrcn, who was of Phares, 
who was of Judas, who was of 
Jacob, who was of Isaac, who was 
of Abraham, who was of Thare, 
who was of Nachor, who was of 
Sarug, who was of Ragau, who was 
of Phaleg, who was of Heber, who 
was of Sale, who was of Cainan, 
who was of Arphaxad, who was 
of Sem, who was of Noe, who was 
of Lamech, who was of Mathusale, 
who was of Henoch, who was of 
Jared, who was of Malaleel, who 
was of Cainan, who was of He- 
nos, who was of Seth, who was 
of Adam, who was of God. 




i. l: ist. 

z : : tvA.ev :,:A St. Luke trite our Saviour 5 

. . . . ; terAither 5:. fstA: 'tecanse 

he and Mary were both of the family of David . inc 

because it was customary to record the (amiry 

by the male mem] trs. 

These two tables, thtugh both vrere probabl] 
taken :r:m :m:iil re::rds. am ear different from each 
other. In ::: Asem is mmei s:n A Heli and in 



Joseph to be adopted by Heli : thus Joseph was son 
of Jacob by nature and of Heli by adoption. 

>her hluieremes in these lists : :" mtgemttrs ire 
acccmtei ::r m :m:ssi:::s A virlms nines :y the 
Evangelists ::r it vris msttmary anting the Jevrs to 
give the titles of father and s:n t: mv persons in 

At ill events Mary has for Jesus the office of both 

hunnn fither md m::her mi in tracing her Ascent 
vhith :s lis: thit A ftseph ever.- remirement :f 
geneiltgv is fulfilled. Hente St. Matthew in dis- 
tinttly stiting her marital relititn t: Aseph triples 
her nime vith his in the title A Ascent Ami 

Tit:: teg:: ~ :seph the husmml A Mar.-, A vrhom 
was Am Jesus vm: is tillei tie Christ." 

It ma; be surmise i that 5t. Matthew, anxious to 
preseme the legal tmditims had tttained his record 
from the survivors of Joseph's family; and that St. 
I,uke obtained his from Mary herself, as the first 
:ers A his narrative shm an intimite mmmuuicn 
ner A.s: ve : :i:e tmt n:s Atspel :::::; :er- 
tainly that spoken of by St. Paul as " my Gospel," 



THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST. 



53 



like the writings of that Apostle himself, traces the 
descent of the Saviour not only back to Abraham, 
the father of the faithful, but to God the Father of 
all mankind. Jesus is not only the son of Abraham 
and a Jew ; He is the son of Adam and a brother of 
all men. His redemption is as universal as His 
family. 

Jesus was, however, a perfect type of the Hebrew 
people. The renowned race of Israel made Jesus of 
Nazareth its heir. The fulness of David's mighty 
courage was His ; Abraham's peaceful contemplation 
of God and faith in the promises were His ; every noble 
human quality of kindness or loyalty or bravery or 
patience inherent in the Jewish nature flowed down 
into the heart of Jesus. In the supernatural order, all 
the predestination of God for this favored people was 
concentrated upon Jesus, together with the complete- 
ness of all possible spiritual endowments of faith and 
hope and love. The glorious memories of the heroic 
past shall be radiant upon the brow of the Hebrew 
Messias. Lowly as may seem His lot, the Man Christ 
shall outshine all His ancestors in majesty, a majesty 
only the more inspiring because it adorns the gracious 
quality of universal love, which is the paramount pre- 
rogative of His royalty. 




S4 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




CHAPTER V. 

MARY OF NAZARETH AND JOSEPH HER ESPOUSED 
HUSBAND. 

Matt. i. 16-18 ; Luke i. 2j. 

¥HEN the first man, the Old Adam, was created, 
it was by infinite power breathing spirit life into 
dead clay. " He breathed into his face the breath 
of life, and man became a living soul." When it 
pleased the Blessed Trinity to renew the race of 
man through the Word made flesh, the New Adam 
was not brought into existence by a new act of 
creation ; but God breathes the breath of life into 
the heart of Mary of Nazareth, unites the divine 
life to her pure blood, and thus forms Jesus Christ 
for the renewal of the fallen race. The New Adam 
is conceived and born of the old race, but generated 
by an exclusive act of infinite power and love with- 
out the co-operation of human paternity. 

But God's loving condescension went even further 
than taking the same human nature that Adam had i 
tainted by sin ; Jesus is not merely Adam's descend- 
ant, and that of saintly men and chaste women, with 
the greatest of saints for His mother ; but His blood is 
also that of apostate and idolatrous kings and shame- 
less harlots. By His Mother, however, that blood 
was passed to Him as if through a divine alembic, 
and cleansed till it was the immaculate blood of a 
perfect humanity — worthy, if such a thing were possi- 
ble, to be the humanity which should be associated 
with the divinity. This is the full meaning of the 
words of Isaias : "A virgin shall conceive and shall 
bring forth a Son, and His name shall be called Em- 
manuel, God with us." 



MARY OF NAZARETH AND JOSEPH. 



55 



Mary, Miriam, a virgin of the royal line of David, 
dwelt at Nazareth in Galilee. Of her birth and 
childhood the inspired history tells us nothing. A 
very venerable tradition affirms that her father's name 
was Heli-Joachim, and her mother's name Anna. 
She had an elder sister, named like herself Mary, 
wife of Cleophas, whose sons James and Jude after- 
wards became disciples of our Saviour. The fact that 
Zachary's wife Elizabeth was Mary's cousin, shows 
that she was not only of the race of David and tribe 
of Juda, but also had priestly blood in her veins. 

The very first mention of our Virgin of Nazareth 
tells us that she was espoused to Joseph, like herself 
an obscure member of the family of David. As to 
Joseph, what greater praise could be given to mortal 
man than belongs to him : that he could attract and 
win the heart of Mary of Nazareth ? 
Of the details of their nuptial en- 
gagement we know nothing. Per- 
haps Mary was required by the law 
of Moses to marry a kinsman on ac- 
count of being sole heir to a little 
family property. Whatever this sup- 
position may be worth, it is certain 
that Joseph was gifted by Heaven 
with the qualities which were best 
fitted to make him the virginal 
spouse of the very queen of all 
womanly perfection. 

That Joseph was an old man, or 
even middle-aged, when he married 
Mary, there is no evidence what- 
ever. God would not leave this 

Sacred union Open to ridicule, and " A Virgin espoused to a man whose name 
, ., , , . . was Joseph, of the house of David ; and the 

people laugh at the marriage Of an Virgin's name was Mary " (Luke i. 27). 




56 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

old man and a young girl. It cannot be doubted 
that, if the divine purposes were to be attained, 
Mary's husband should be, and should plainly appear 
to be, something like her equal in personal qualities. 
His office was to give her happy companionship, 
lovingly to support her by his labor, to shield her 
from the breath of calumny ; and all of this could be 
well secured only by a husband in the bloom of man- 
hood. As to the question of restraining sexual 
passion, we know that it was by divine appointment 
that Joseph was Mary's wedded husband, and there- 
fore the graces of his spouseship would, by God's prov- 
idence, save him from the torment of ill- repressed 
sensual emotions. And do we not know that, when 
divine grace assists men, it is not old age that 
makes chastity easy, but rather the virile self-control 
proper to no particular time of life, or if to any, then 
to that prime of generous and courageous 3^outh which 
has always been the age no less of heroic self-re- 
straint than of devoted affection. 

Nor can we for a moment doubt that this marriage 
was in every way an ideal one ; nor, therefore, that 
Joseph in choosing Mary, and she in accepting him, 
followed both of them the tender impulses of chaste 
love — a sentiment in their case all the more worthy of 
the name of love because instilled into their hearts by 
the Holy Spirit, and every carnal tendency cleansed 
away by at least some divine prophetic anticipations 
of the future. 

We are not left in ignorance as to the process of 
the espousals of Joseph and Mary, for we know that 
they must have followed the Hebrew custom. Joseph 
sought the hand of Mary first by the offer of his love 
to her, and then by presents to those who stood to 
her in the place of parents ; upon acceptance, he 



THE SON OF GOD BECOMES MAN. 57 

took an oath of fidelity. Then a considerable period 
elapsed, during which this predestined pair seldom 
saw each other, though the law looked upon their 
union as settled, the parties in such cases often being 
spoken of as husband and wife. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THK SON OF GOD B3COMKS MAN. 

Matt. i. 18; Luke i. 26-38 ; John i. 14. 

It was during this interval that God chose the 
virgin spouse of Joseph for her unspeakable privilege 
of Mother of the Eternal Word. Living at Nazareth, 
either in her deceased parents' home, or with her 
sister, the wife of Cleophas, Mary passed her time 
as a perfect Jewish maiden. She was by no means 
a recluse, and as a daughter of the common people 
she sanctified the simple domestic cares and daily 
round of household duties. Content with these for 
her external occupation, her soul was absorbed in 
meditation of things divine. Apart from her es- 
poused husband, she seldom thought of men and 
their aims and ambitions, content with praying that 
God's will might be done in all things, rapt in the 
divine love and submissive to the order of life and 
the humble destiny which seemed all that was allotted 
to her — a state of soul which is the basis of even 
the loftiest virtues of the saints. In her interior life 
she conversed with God and His holy angels in the 
most intimate communion ; her outward life was dili- 
gent attention to duty and loving converse with her 
kinsfolk and neighbors. How many happy hours 
did not Mary pass in reading the Scriptures — rejoic- 
ing in the living faith of her forefathers, the longings 



5 8 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

of the entire race for the Messias, the glorious deeds 
of the mighty warriors, the sweet and meek piety 
of the holy women of Israel ! — little dreaming that 
the torrent of peaceful bliss which poured into her 
soul was the very essence of all those virtues of the 
ancient days. She could not know that the super- 
natural favors she experienced, the ecstasies, the 
inner voices of God and of His holy servants, the 
radiant light that illumined the sacred page, — that 
all these, usual and almost commonplace to her, were 
the very perfection of God's gifts, and that they were 
granted to her that she might be made the most 
perfect soul that ever lived, because she was to be 
the Mother of the Incarnate God.* 

And now the fulness of time has come ; the world 
is to be redeemed. The same heavenly ambassador 
who had appeared to the priest Zachary in the Holy 
of Holies is now sent to the humble maiden in her 
chamber — engaged perhaps in prayer, or just as likely 
with her needle or her spindle. In any case, God's 
messenger found her full of divine love and saluted 

*This blending of all divine gifts in Mary's soul includes her exemption 
from Adam's sin. The Angel Gabriel, as we shall see, v/ill hail her as 
"full of grace," a title whose primary meaning is the dogma of the Im- 
maculate Conception. Says St. Francis de Sales : " God first of all destined 
for His most holy Mother a favor worthy the love of a Son who, being all 
wise, all mighty, all good, wished to prepare a mother to His liking, and 
therefore He willed His redemption to be applied to her after the manner 
of a preserving remedy, that the sin which was spreading from generation 
to generation should not reach her. She then was so excellently re- 
deemed, that though, when the time came, the torrent of original iniquity 
rushed to pour its unhappy waves over her conception, with as much im- 
petuosity as it had done on that of the other daughters of Adam ; yet 
when it reached there it passed not beyond, but stopped, as did anciently 
the Jordan in the time of Josue, and for the same respect : for this river 
held its stream in reverence for the passage of the Ark of the Covenant; 
and original sin drew back its waters, revering and dreading the 
presence of the true Tabernacle of the eternal covenant." {The Love of 
God, Book II. chap. vi). 



THE SON OF GOD BECOMES MAN. 



59 



her accordingly as "full of grace." 
What amazement filled the humble 
soul of Mary ! She was frightened 
at the angel's apparition, and dis- 
tressed at his praise. What kind 
of visitor is this, and what kind of 
salutation ? What does it all mean ? 
The angel is a mighty being, but 
he is a gentle spirit too, and he re- 
assures the maiden, calls her famil- 
iarly by her name, and proceeds at 
once to the purpose of his embassy : 
" Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy 
womb, and shalt bring forth a Son ; 
and thou shalt call his name Jesus "; 
and this was followed by the full 
statement of the Advent of the 
Messias. It is indeed the Messias ! 
Mary hears that she is to become 
the mother of this great personage, 
the Son of God and the Saviour of 
men ! 

It is the Messias ! What an amaz- 
ing event ! What thoughts of love, 
joy ? terror, thanksgiving, possessed 
the soul of Mary at these words — that her womb should 
be the chosen feeding-bed for the root of Jesse, from 
which should spring up the tree of life, the Saviour 
of the world, the Son of God ! How many holy mothers 
in Israel had dreamed of this honor — and it had come 
to her, to Mary of Nazareth. Son of God ! Mother 
of the Son of God! But of all her questionings, the 
one which first found utterance was her candid long- 
ing to save her cherished state of virginity, a state 
of life to which God had plainly led her from her 



"the word was made flesh." 
And in the sixth month the Angel 
Gabriel was sent from God into a city of 
Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin es- 
poused to a man whose name was Joseph, 
of the house of David; and the virgin's 
name was Mary. And the Angel being 
come in, said unto her : Hail, full of grace, 
the Lord is with thee : Blessed art thou 
among women. Who having heard, was 
troubled at his saying, and thought with 
herself what manner of salutation this 
should be. And the Angel said to her: 
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace 
with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in 
thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son ; 
and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He 
shall be great, and shall be called the Son 
of the Most High : and the Lord God shall 
give unto him the throne of David his 
father : and he shall reign in the house of 
Jacob for ever : And of his kingdom there 
shall be no end. And Mary said to the 
angel : How shall this be done, because I 
know not man ? And the Angel answering, 
said to her : The Holy Ghost shall come 
upon thee ; and the power of the Most 
High shall overshadow thee. And there- 
fore also the Holy which shall be born of 
thee shall be called the Son of God. And 
behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also 
conceived a son in her old age : and this is 
the sixth month with her that is called 
barren : because no word shall be impossi- 
ble with God. And Mary said : Behold 
the handmaid of the Lord : be it done to 
me according to thy word. And the Angel 
departed from her. 

And the Word was made flesh, and 
dwelt among us. 



6o 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




childhood's days. "Then said Mary unto the 
angel : How shall this be, since I know not 
man?" Even her espoused husband Joseph, it 
had been agreed between them, should be to 
her but a reflex of her own virginity, all carnal 
union, by divine inspiration, totally renounced. 
Then the angel calmed her shrinking suscepti- 
[ -k bilities, and revealed to her pure soul the mys- 
tery of her chaste motherhood : ' • The Holy 
Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of 
the Most High shall overshadow thee, and there- 
fore the Holy [One] that shall be born of thee 
shall be called the Son of God." 

Here, then, God works by His Holy Spirit. 
"The Holy Ghost shall It was He who had spoken by the prophets in 
power U o? n the Mos^ High foretelling this wondrous event, and who in 
(Luke i over ) shadow thee " primordial creation was breathed in fruitful power 
over the deep. The Spirit Creator penetrates 
Mary with the Deity, and generates the new 
creation in her chaste womb, arousing it into 
divine life and fecundating it with divine fruitful- 
ness. The first Adam, St. Luke tells us (iii. 
38), "was of God." But he was of God's power 
and love alone, and could sin and did sin against 
his Maker. The new Adam shall be of God's 
very nature ; and shall show forth the soul and 
body of man under the personal dominion of God, 
sinless and incapable of sin, yet truly man. It is 
this amazing mystery that was first revealed to Mary 
and that she instantly believed on the word of the di- 
vine ambassador, demanding no sign, for she was 
under a spell of faith far passing the need of signs. 
But the angel gave her a sign, and one closely joined 
with the conception of the Saviour. "And behold, 
thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son 



THE SON OF GOD BECOMES MAN. 61 

in her old age : and this is the sixth month with her 
who was called barren." The angel might well add, 
that "with God nothing shall be impossible," for he 
was witness no less than messenger of God's most 
stupendous work — the union in the bosom of Mary of 
the divine and human natures in one divine person. 
And now Mary's mind was clear. God had sought 
her out — a marvellous mystery, but evidently a fact, — 
His purpose with her is the Messias. To yield 
to God's will instantly and instinctively is Mary's 
whole life. But there were some pangs of agony in 
her soul as she yielded : she not only loved God, 
she loved Joseph, she loved her kindred ; and can 
she become a mother without explaining her divine 
espousals with the Holy Spirit to her earthly spouse 
and to her relatives and friends ? But how can she 
explain her pregnancy to Joseph? Will he believe 
this unheard-of tale upon her word only ? The bare 
thought of being suspected of unfaithfulness to Joseph 
— cursed, stoned to death as an unclean woman ! 
This was an awful dread ; and it was not the only 
terror that crept into her soul, for we may not doubt 
that God, whose ambassador had treated with Mary 
as if she were queen of earth, and of earth that had 
been made equal to heaven, gave her at the same 
time a vision of Calvary and of her motherhood of 
sorrows. But she was well chosen for her office of 
Mother of the Redeemer, capable of casting her lot 
wholly with the divine will for man's salvation, glad 
of the pain no less than of the joy. "And Mary 
said : Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it done 
unto me according to thy word. And the Word was 
made flesh, and dwelt among us. And the angel de- 
parted from her." She does not meddle with times 
and moments, and she does not search into other 



62 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



secrets. She leaves all to God by total abandonment 
to the divine will. She neither hurries on nor lags 
belling 

And thus the Word was made flesh, and thus He 
began to dwell among us ; it was the reception of the 
divine goodness by the highest faith, love, and obedi- 
ence on the part of men, represented by Mary of 
Nazareth. 



CHAPTER VII. 

MARY'S VISIT TO ELIZABETH. — THE MAGNIFICAT, 

Luke i. 39- j6. 

Had all this taken place after Mary's marriage to 
Joseph she would, perhaps, have been able to over- 
come her lowliness so far as to pour out to him her 
inmost thoughts ; for a soul burdened with so great 
a. mystery must needs have a familiar confidant. But 
the angel's news about Elizabeth pointed out Mary's 
confidant — a woman, and one, like herself, in preg- 
nancy, and, yet more, as in her own case, pregnant by 
a miracle of God's power and love. Such a one can 
understand Mary, and so to Eliza- 
beth Mary hastens. The distance 
between Nazareth and the home of 
Zachary measures nearly ninety 
miles, forming a journey over hills 
and through valleys of at least four 
clays, bringing the Mother of Jesus 
well south of Jerusalem to the priest- 
ly city of Hebron. 

It was not hard for Mary to find 
proper escort for her visit, as cara- 
vans were always going towards 
Jerusalem and the south. But we 



THE MEETING OF MARY AND ELIZABETH. 

And Mary rising up in those days, went 
into the mountainous country with haste, 
into a city of Juda : And she entered into 
the house of Zachary, and saluted Eliza- 
beth. And it came to pass, that when 
Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, 
the infant leaped in her womb : and 
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost : 
And she cried out with a loud voice, and 
said : Blessed art thou among women ; 
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And 
whence is this to me, that the mother of 
my Lord should come to me ? For behold, 
a as the voice of thy salutation 
sounded in my ears, the infant in my 
womb leaped for joy. And blessed art 
thou that hast believed ; because those 
things shall be accomplished that were 
spoken to thee by the Lord. 



MARY'S VISIT TO ELIZABETH. 



63 




HILL COUNTRY OF JUDEA. 



do not know who journeyed 
with her ; we know that when 
she entered that family she 
was overflowing with divine 
grace, whose glory, as she 
saluted Elizabeth, shone forth 
with light divine. Mary was 
to the aged woman what the 
vision of the angel had been 
to her husband in the Holy 
of Holies. Since her miracu- 
lous conception of the forerun- 
ner of God's anointed Eliza- 
beth had known that He must 
soon appear, but she had not 
the faintest notion where or 
how. The sight of Mary revealed it all, for the Christ- 
bearer was beaming in every loving feature of Mary's 
face, and quivered in the tones of her voice as she 
saluted her kinswoman. The dignity of Mary as the 
Mother of God made man, the promises of the 
angel to her, and the relation of the two babes 
to each other, all was revealed. And not onty to 
herself was this light given and this heavenly secret 
unfolded, but also to her unborn son. As Elizabeth 
was the first woman to acclaim the Saviour and His 
mother with the voice of divine worship, so was the 
son in her womb the first man to proclaim Him 
now, though yet unborn, and again upon the banks 
of the Jordan amid the eloquent tones of his 
penance-preaching. Just as sleeping nature awakes 
and smiles and worships at the first rays of the 
morning sun, so did John awake into reason and 
joy and adoration at the coming of the Mother of 
His Eord. "For behold, " cried Elizabeth, "as soon 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



THE SONG OF MARY. 

And Mary said : My soul doth magnify 
the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in 
God my Saviour, because he hath regarded 
the humility of his handmaid ; for behold 
from henceforth all generations shall call 
me blessed. Because he that is mighty 
hath done great things to me, and holy is 
his name. And his mercy is from genera- 
lion unto generations, to them that fear 
him. He hath showed might in his arm; 
lie hath scattered the proud in the conceit 
of their heart. He hath put down the 
mighty from their seat, and hath exalted 
the humble. He hath filled the hungry 
with good things.: and the rich he hath 
sent empty away. He hath received Israel 
his sen-ant, being mindful of his mercy. 
As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham 
and to his seed for ever. And Mary 
abode with her about three months : and 
she returned to her own house. 



as the voice of thy salutation sound- 
ed in my ears, the infant in my 
womb leaped for joy." 

How very great was Mary's own 
joy to receive the first congratula- 
tions upon her divine maternity 
from both the Precursor and his 
mother ! She sang her jubilation 
in her beautiful canticle, the Mag- 
nificat. It is little to say that the 
Magnificat is revealed, for Mary 
was ever in touch with God 
since she began to think and live 
and speak absorbed in the divinity 
of her Son. However deep is 
Mary's happiness as a woman, its utterance is that of 
a queen, the spouse of the Holy Ghost. In the Mag- 
nificat we hear a voice whose tones are like the music 
of heaven. Mary with one concentrated aspiration of 
her soul both praises God and thanks Him as if she 
stood proxy for the whole human race. Her soul and 
spirit, her consciousness of the divine immanence and 
her abounding love overflow, calm and majestic, in a 
celestial hymn of thanks and adoration. The more 
ecstatically does she thank God for His Son, because 
she can represent the masses of the people ; she, a low- 
ly maiden, humble member of an unknown household, 
affianced bride of a country carpenter, has been selected 
before the queens of the world to fill its highest 
dignity. " For behold from henceforth all generations 
shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty 
hath done great things to me : and holy is His name. 
And His mercy is on them that fear Him from genera- 
tion to generation." Although she knows that she 
is but the material from which has been fashioned 



THE MAGNIFICA T. 65 

the masterpiece of the Divine Artist, she is also con- 
scious of her liberty and of the force of divine grace 
within her. Her future and universal glory is clear 
before her prophetic gaze. Again, as a child of 
Israel, she glories in the triumph of God's people ; 
she loves her nation, she is glad of its coming glory : 
"He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and 
exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with 
good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away." 

The haughty Pharisees are rejected, Caesar and 
Herod are rejected. Men and women who are thought 
nothing of have been chosen as the first to see 
the realization of the divine promises. The Song 
of Mary and that of Zachary, the triumphant acclaim 
of Elizabeth, ring out with the dominant note of 
the Gospel : He that is nothing with himself and with 
men shall become everything with God. Before God 
will impart Himself and His love to us, we must 
show Him utter self-abasement. Haughty power is 
done ; the dominion of tyranny over men's souls is 
ended, however it may continue to torture their 
bodies. The infinite God lavishes His love upon the 
lowly, and that love is strongest in the yielding virtues 
of humility and kindliness and poverty and forgive- 
ness. These are the qualities which from henceforth 
shall be set by God as the test of the true Israelite. 

The Magnificat opens the windows of this chosen 
spirit, .and allows us our only full view of that throne- 
room of our King. How tender the love, how un- 
affected the humility of Mary ! How spontaneously 
Hebrew is her poem, clothed in the lofty strains of the 
ancient songs of God's people ! — often and lovingly re- 
cited by this meditative soul. How resistless the flow 
of that divine melody which swelled the pure bosom 
of Mary, and overflows upon our hearts in the Mag- 



66 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



nificat ! She does not speak, she cannot speak ; she 
sings. And the genius of the Hebrew tongue, like 
that of the race itself, easily passed from words spoken 
to poems chanted, when the soul winged its upward 
flight in prayer. In view of all this must we not 
wonder that Mary should have been classed by many 
dissident Christians as an ordinary woman, a mere 
necessary and vulgar- minded intermediary in God's 
work of redemption? 

Mary sojourned in the house of Zachary till the 
birth and circumcision of John. She there enjoyed 
the sweetest comfort of communion with perfect ser- 
vants of God, as well as the joy of ministering to her 
aged cousin during the pains of labor and childbed. 
And after the Precursor had been born and the fes-| 
tivities of such occasions celebrated, Mary returned 
to Nazareth, to await God's will in the completion of 
her own motherhood and the birth of her Son. 
But the critical question of how Joseph was to learn 
all that had happened was still unanswered. 




THE MARRIAGE OF MARY AND JOSEPH. 



6 7 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE MARRIAGE OF MARY AND JOSEPH. 

Matt. i. 18-25; Luke i. 27. 

Upon the re- 
turn of Mary 
to Nazareth, 
Joseph perceiv- 
ed her condition 
to be that of 
pregnancy. He 
had known 




neither the visit 
of the angel nor the revelations at the home of Zachary. 
Having been ignorant of all, he was now thrown into a 
state of misery beyond words to describe. Nor did 
Mary relieve him — perhaps she was hindered from doing 
so by a supernatural admonition, perhaps by her own 
shrinking humility and timidity to disclose so unheard- 
of a marvel. Joseph's soul was a prey to indescribable 
agony. He dared not doubt the chastity of his 
affianced spouse, to whom God had led him by a 
love so pure as to be an inspiration from heaven ; 
yet the terrible reality was before his eyes. He was 
horrified at the undeniable physical certainty of 
Mary's pregnancy, and yet his soul was powerless to 
believe her guilty of the awful crime which this in- 
dicated. He dared not even ask her to explain — • 
her calm glances pierced him like fiery arrows of re- 
proach — and yet there she was, a pregnant woman. 
In this state of mind he could not complete the es- 
pousals and take her to his home ; he was just as 
unable to denounce her to the magistrates. He 
determined to adopt a middle course. He would 



68 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

privately give her a release from their engagement, 
assigning no cause, and leave to Providence the clear- 
ing up of this excruciating mystery. St. Matthew 
briefly describes the hard trial of Joseph and its issue : 
"Now the generation of Christ was in this wise. 
When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, 
before they came together, she was found with child, 
of the Holy Ghost. Whereupon Joseph her husband, 
being a just man, and not willing publicly to ex- 
pose her, was minded to put her away privately." 
He could not commit to human authority the decision 
of a case which he himself — of all men the most 
vitally concerned — could only refer as a deep mys- 
tery to the judgment of God. 

As to Mary, this was the first of the many 
sorrows which her high dignity compelled her to bear. 
Throughout her whole life the joys of motherhood 
and its pangs were seldom separated. If Joseph should 
repudiate her, she, conscious of absolute purity, would 
become an outcast among her sex, and her infant, 
the Son of the Most High, would be brought into the 
world under the deadly stigma of bastardy. Should 
she disclose her secret, she did not know if Joseph 
would believe her. And was it not Heaven's secret? 
Who knows but that her lips were sealed by the same 
power which had made her virgin womb fruitful. 
But what an agony that enforced silence must have 
been to her, and how heroic Mary's confidence in 
God to have been able to maintain it ! 

Yet it is not too much to say that the heart of 
Joseph was tried more painfully than Mary's, for 
the mystery was all revealed to her and was all hidden 
from him. To him the woe was overwhelming. God, 
therefore, chose to set forth His will not to Mary 
but to Joseph, and that by means of a vision. One 



THE MARRIAGE OF MARY AND JOSEPH. 



69 



ST. JOSEPH'S VISION. 

But while he thought on these things 



night when he had fallen asleep, wearied with grief 
and doubt, the angel of the Lord was sent to him 
and spoke to him as in a dream. 

The angel came to him and saluted him with 
the great title of Son of David, called Mary his wife, 
and said, c< that which is conceived 
in her is of the Holy Ghost." The 
mystery is thus given to him to un- 
derstand, and that by a special 
ambassador from heaven. Nor is 
this all. His own fatherly juris- 
diction over Mary's Son is dis- 
tinctly announced: "Thou shalt 
call His name Jesus. For He shall 
save His people from their sins." 
How happy life seemed when Joseph 
awoke and realized what had hap- 
pened to him ! What a relief! 
What a heavenly consolation ! How 
sincere is his outpouring of thanksgiving ! How dear 
is Mary to God, must not Joseph have exclaimed, 
since He sends an angel to me to restore her to 
her original place in my affections! How good is 
God to me to not only clear away the fogs that ob- 
scured my love for my promised wife, but to make 
me the husband of the spouse of the Holy Ghost ! 

All is now clear before the manly heart of the young 
carpenter of Nazareth. He is to be the husband of Mary 
in the legal sense as well as in that of true marital 
love, though not in the carnal sense ; his office being 
to solace Mary with a perfect love ; to protect her 
good name and the legitimacy of Jesus ; to reverence 
her as the temple of the Most High ; to guard and 
support her Son as if He were his own : and all this 
is made known to him as God's will by the message 



be- 



hold the Angel of the Lord appeared to 
him in his sleep, saying : Joseph, son of 
David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy 
wife, for that which is conceived in her 
is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring 
forth a son : and thou shalt call his name 
Jesus. For he shall save his people from 
their sins. Now all this was done that 
it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke 
by the prophet, saying : Behold a virgin 
shall be with child, and bring forth a son, 
and they shall call his name Emmanuel, 
which being interpreted is, God with us. 
And Joseph rising up from sleep, did as 
the Angel of the Lord had commanded 
him, and took unto him his wife. And he 
knew her not till she brought forth her 
first-born son : and he called his name 
Jesus. 



70 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

of an angel. Gladly does he accept this double 
mission of marital love and angelic chastity. "And 
Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the 
Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his 
wife. And he knew her not till she brought forth 
her first-born Son." 

The attempt of anti-Christian writers to make out 
that these last words indicate that Mary afterwards 
bore other children, which children were Joseph's, is 
futile. The term "first-born son" was that applied 
to him "who first opened the womb," for such a 
one was by the law to be dedicated to God ; and 
even if he remained the only son, he was still named 
the first-born. St. Jerome in noticing this rule also 
shows that the expression ' ' he knew her not until 
she brought forth her first-born son," is a mode of 
speaking peculiar to the Hebrew language. " Noe 
sent forth a raven, which did not return till the waters 
were dried up on the earth "; that is, did not return 
at all (Gen. viii. 6, 7). And in Isaias God says: " I 
am till you grow old" (xlvi. 4). And in I. Macha- 
bees : "They went up to Mount Sion with joy, and 
offered holocausts, because not one of them was slain 
till they had returned in peace" — that is, not slain 
at all. And other passages bear out the immemorial 
and universal Catholic belief that Mary was always a 
virgin. 

The difficulty which arises from the naming of 
"James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude," as being 
the "brothers of the Lord " (Matt. xiii. 55), is easily 
explained. They were sons of Mary's sister, the wife 
of Cleophas, otherwise Alpheus. Now, it was the 
Jewish custom to name first cousins brothers, es- 
pecially where one of them was an only son ; and 
thus these sons of Mary's sister were styled brothers 



THE MARRIAGE OF MARY AND JOSEPH. 7 i 

of Jesus, who was Mary's only son. A very conclu- 
sive proof of this is drawn from comparing passages 
in St. Paul and St. Mark. The James here in ques- 
tion was certainly James the Cesser — that is to say, 
the younger of the two Apostles of that name, for 
St. Paul means him when in Galatians (i. 19) he 
says he saw James, the Lord's brother, in Jerusalem, 
for he could not in that passage have meant James the 
Greater, or elder, because James the Greater was un- 
doubtedly the son of Zebedee and not related to our 
Lord at all. Well, then, it being established that 
the James who was the Lord's ''brother" was James 
the Lesser, we are made certain by St. Mark (xv. 40) 
that he was the son of Mary the wife of Cleophas : 
1 ' Among whom [the holy women] was Mary Magda- 
lene, and Mary the mother of James the Less, and 
of Joseph, and Salome." Simon also is named as 
one of the Lord's brothers, and of him Hegesippus, 
who wrote in the middle of the second century, affirms 
that he was the second Bishop of Jerusalem, and he 
calls him the Lord's cousin. If any other evidence 
were wanting to secure demonstration, it would be 
the act of Jesus Himself on the cross in confiding 
His mother to John as to an adopted son. If James 
or Jude or Simon were Mary's own children, this could 
not have been. If Mary had actual sons besides Jesus 
and these were His own apostles, Jesus would not 
have confided her to an adopted son and thus bitterly 
affronted them and injured her. 

It was not fitting that such a son as Jesus should 
be compelled to share His mother's love with others. 
He absorbed the entire motherhood of Mary. 

The union of Joseph and Mary in uncarnal wed- 
lock is the beginning of that marvel of our concupis- 
cent manhood, the celibate priesthood of the Church 



7 2 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

of Christ. Love for Jesus and for His living taber- 
nacle, His mother, was to Joseph the passion of 
passions. As he served Jesus and loved Mary in 
severe chastity, so do the members of the priesthood 
serve the ever-present Christ and His living taber- 
nacle, which is His Church, in a spirit of joyful self- 
immolation, being so fascinated with this holy love 
that they forget the natural claims of flesh and blood. 
Understand the virginal spouseship of Nazareth, and 
you have the key to clerical celibacy. 




NAZARETH FROM THE CAMPANILE OF THE 
CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION. 



JESUS IS BORN A T BETHLEHEM. 



73 




PLACE OF THE NATIVITY. 

CHAPTER IX. 

JESUS IS BORN AT BETHLEHEM. 
Matt. i. 25; Luke ii. 1-20. 

The time for the birtli of Jesus is approaching, 
and the happy union of souls between Mary and 
Joseph is followed by the necessary practical arrange- 
ments for that great event. 

God's providence now interv ened ; instead of bring- 
ing forth her child at Nazareth, it was the divine will 
that Mary should do so at Bethlehem. One reason 
for this was to fulfil the ancient prophecy which 
named that city as the birth-place of the Messias. An- 
other was that Mary might be saved from suspicion ; 
for although a child conceived during the time of es- 
pousals was not illegitimate according to the Jewish 
law, yet it would have been a deep humiliation if 
Jesus had been born before the lapse of nine months 
of completed wedlock. In Bethlehem they were total 
strangers and there was no one there to calculate 
dates. Therefore did God at this time bring about 
the taking of the census of Palestine by the Roman 
authorities, which brought the Holy Family with the 
other members of David's house to his little city, sit- 
uated a long journey southward from Nazareth. 

The Emperor Augustus had at this time decreed 



74 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




TOWER OF DAVID. 



the taking of a universal census and the systematic 
taxation of his empire, one measure being necessary 
to make the other a success. The moment was favor- 
able. For the first time in ages the city of Rome 
enjoyed peace throughout its entire dominion, and the 
temple of Janus, the Roman war-god, was shut. 
Augustus had touched the highest point of his glory 
and might well begin to perfect the organization of 
his vast empire. The boundaries of the various 
provinces had already been fixed and published pur- 
suant to a decree of Julius Caesar made forty-four years 
previously. This census, therefore, would complete 
the systematic knowledge of the empire and its in- 
habitants, and facilitate the levying of taxes. Tacitus 
and other Roman chroniclers tell us of what must have 
been the written summary of this enrollment, a docu- 
ment made in the handwriting of the emperor, and 
after his death read to the Roman Senate. That 
Palestine was included in it there can be no manner 
of doubt. Tertullian, who wrote in the second Chris- 
tian century, appeals to public documents of his day 
as evidence of the census in that country ; and his 
testimony is backed by that of competent pagan wit- 
nesses who wrote not long after the date of our 
Saviour's birth as assigned by St. Luke. 

In thus choosing his city of lineage for his legal 
domicile rather than his place of birth or residence, 
Joseph availed himself of his privilege as an Israelite. 
The entire civil structure of the Jewish nationality was 
based upon the distinction of tribes and families. And 
Mary had her place in this choice, for, being as is 
more than likely without brothers, she ranked in pub- 
lic registers equally with male heirs in other families. 
Furthermore, it is historically certain that the Roman 
tax fell upon women no less than men — another reason 



JESUS IS BORN A T BETHLEHEM. 75 

for Mary's enrollment. But the supreme reason is, 
that God would show by this providential journey to 
Bethlehem and the birth of the Messias there the 
descent of Jesus from King David. 

What was the precise date of this enrollment, and 
therefore of our Saviour's birth ? St. I^uke says that 
"this enrollment was first made by Cyrinus, the 
governor of Syria," Does he mean Quirinus? There 
was such a man then in office in Palestine, only he 
was not governor but questor, or tax superintendent, 
of Syria. Many think St. I^uke does mean this 
official, for as the census was taken with a view to 
taxation, Quirinus, who was high in the favor of 
Augustus, would naturally be given charge of it. 

The distance to Bethlehem from Nazareth is about 
eighty miles— a long and painful road for a woman 
near her confinement. But in the East travelling is 
not hurried and the virtue of hospitality is religious- 
ly practised in favor of travellers. Nor can we be- 
lieve that the mother of Jesus suffered from the usual 
infirmities of pregnancy, for her maternity was every 
way miraculous. And what would not her soul, ever 
in contact with the soul of Jesus in her bosom, be 
willing to suffer, and how easily would it not master 
the bodily weakness of her condition ? Nor can we 
imagine a more perfect solace for every ill than the 
company of her husband. Filled with thoughts of the 
divine plan about her Infant and conversing happily 
with Joseph, Mary journeyed courageously forward 
to the spot named by the prophets of God as the 
place of birth of her Son, the Saviour of the world. 
As they neared and entered the land of Juda she 
was refreshed with the memorials of Rachel, of Booz, 
of Ruth, of David, which were everywhere to be met 
with. They all spoke to her soul in salutation, in 



7 6 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



encouragement, in joyful recognition of her Son. 
And that Son was not dumb to His mother's loving 
spirit, engaging her with divine words in heavenly 
intercourse. Every step she took the Maiden-Mother 
knew was a step towards the redemption of man- 
kind. 

On arriving at Bethlehem the Holy Family found 
the little city swarming with people, like themselves, 
come to the place of enrollment. The first arrivals 
overflowed the inns and every other 
lodging that was available. After 
anxious inquiry, Joseph and Mary 
must be content with an inn stable, 
a miserable lodging at best, and 
how much worse for a woman like 
Mary, about to become a mother. 
Such structures are seen in the East 
to-day, and they were the same in 
our Saviour's time. 

The shelter of the Holy Family 
was within a rude wall enclosing a 
space in which the horses or camels 
or asses of the travellers were usu- 
ally kept. One side of this poor j \ 
abode was the wall itself, against 
which a shed was built, a rough 
stable, without windows, the door 
opening on the stable yard. The 
humbler sort of travellers often 
made this a lodging for both them- 
selves and their beasts, especially 
in bad weather, forming a primitive 
company, and for the human mem- 
bers not a very agreeable one. If the yard were 
backed by a rocky hill, the little stables were caves 



THE BIRTH OF JESUS. 

And it came to pass that in those days 
there went out a decree from Caesar Augus- 
tus, that the whole world should be en- 
rolkd. This enrolling was first made by 
Cyrinus the governor of Syria. And all 
went to be enrolled, every one into his own 
city. And Joseph also went up from Gali- 
lee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, 
to the city of David, which is called Beth- 
lehem : because he was of the house and 
family of David ; to be enrolled with Mary 
his espoused wife, who was with child. 
And it came to pass, that when they were 
there, her days were accomplished, that 
she should be delivered. And she brought 
forth her first-born son, and wrapped him 
up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a 
manger : because there was no room for 
them in the inn. And there were in the 
same country shepherds watching, and 
keeping the night-watches over their flock. 
And behold an angel of the Lord stood by 
them, and the brightness of God shone 
round about them, and they feared with a 
great fear. And the angel said to them : 
Fear not ; for behold I bring you good 
tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the 
people. For this day is born to you a 
Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the 
city of David. And this shall be a sign 
unto you. You shall find the infant 
wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in 
a manger. And suddenly there was with 
the angel a multitude of the heavenly 
army, praising God, and saying : Glory to 
God in the highest : and on earth peace to 
men of good will. 



JESUS IS BORN A T BETHLEHEM. 



77 



dug out of the hill- side. In one of these, or some such 
humble shelter of men and beasts, Jesus was born. 

Here it was that Mary became a mother, first looked 
upon the face of her Babe, offered Him up to His 
Heavenly Father, pressed Him to her heart, gave 
Him to Joseph to embrace, suckled Him most lovingly, 
"wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid 
Him in a manger ' ' : then they both knelt down and 
adored Him. It was a very humble cradle for the 
Son of God ; but this monarch of the w r orld will yet 
choose to reign from a throne so painful as the cross. 

In the minds of all the multitude of descendants 
of David in Bethlehem that night there were two 
great monarchs, the mighty Caesar Augustus and 
the terrible King Herod, the usurper and oppressor 
of the Jewish people. One of Herod's castles was not 
far off, and perhaps he was there at that very hour, 
feasting and carousing amidst his courtiers, whilst 
the King of kings is cradled in a manger. Bethlehem 
obeys Csesar Augustus and trembles at the very name 
of Herod, and has neither room nor bed, nor happy 
welcome, for the gentle queen who is come to bring 
forth her Royal Son. Yet in His birth-chamber, Beth- 
lehem's humblest lodging, He begins His reign over 
men's souls, a kingdom all ruled by love, ending in 
a conquest perfect in its mastery and joyful in 
its obedience. 

Whilst the earth was silent and without wel- 
come for the new-born King, the heavens were 
moved in their glorious mansions. If every door 
in the City of David was shut against Jesus, the 
gates of the Celestial City were opened wide and 
the sweet voices of angels bade Him welcome. 

One mile east of Bethlehem are the ruins of a 
church built by the Empress St. Helen, mother of 




78 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




u Behold I bring you good tidings 
of great joy " (Luke ii. 9). 



Constantine the Great, to mark the spot 
where the shepherds, in their rude tower 
watching over their flocks, heard the 
angels sing the first Gloria i?i Excelsis. 
"Behold an angel of the Lord stood by 
them, and the brightness of God shone 
round about them, and they feared with 
a great fear. And the angel said to 
them : Fear not ; for behold I bring you 
good tidings of great joy, that shall be ] 
to all people : for this day is born to 
you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, 
in the city of David. And this shall be j 
a sign unto you. You shall find the In- 
fant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a man- 
ger." And then the angels chanted over the Child's 
cradle the hymn of reconciliation between earth and ! 
heaven. "And suddenly there was with the angel a [ 
multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and j 
saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth 
peace to men of good will." The shepherds were 
ravished with joy at this celestial praise of the Messias, 
which has given the note to the adoration of men ever j 
since, is caught up again by the angels and passed 
from one order of the celestial spirits to another, and 
ringing back to earth once more, is repeated in glad- 
some tones throughout the whole earth. Thus the lov- 
ing, thankful, adoring praise of Jesus, begun in the 
stable by Mary and Joseph and echoed in the heavens 
by the angelic choir, goes on everywhere and for ever. 
Upright souls follow the guidance of God naturally 
and without hesitation. The angels are gone ; the 
ecstatic song is done. But "the shepherds said one 
to another, Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us 
see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord 



JESUS IS BORN A T BETHLEHEM. 



79 



hath showed to us. And they came with haste, and 
they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in 
a manger." It was not hard to find the Babe, for 
what other child was born in a stable and laid in a 
manger that night in Bethlehem? How deep the 
amazement, the joy, the adoration of the shepherds, 
as they found the new-born Messias in His humble 
cradle ! There they saw Him ; and as Mary lifted 
Him up for their caresses, they beheld that sweetest 
of all pictures in religion or art or poetry, The Mother 
and Child. They paid Him reverence as He sat en- 
throned in Mary's arms, with Joseph standing by, 
perhaps also a few friends, humble men and women 
with whom our holy couple had made acquaintance on 
their journey. All the angels' words 
were now clear to the shepherds. "And 
seeing, they understood of the word that 
had been spoken to them concerning the 
Child ; and all that heard wondered, and 
at those things that were told them by the 
shepherds " ; for these eagerly related 
their midnight vision, and the song of 
the angels in the heavens. " Mary," 
meantime, ' ' kept all these words and pon- 
dered them in her heart." What a book 
of divine wisdom was that heart of Mary, 
containing now the first pages of the 
New L,aw of Love, and afterwards all the 
pages of God's Book of Wisdom ! As 
for the shepherds, they returned to their 
hill-side pastures, ' ' glorifying and prais- 
ing God for all things they had heard 
and seen, as it was told to them." 

Christian tradition insists that the birth 
of Jesus gave no pain to His mother; 




" There were in the same country 
shepherds watching, and keeping the 
night-watches over their flock" 
(Luke ii. 8). 



So 




A SHEPHERD OF JUDEA. 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

and this is borne out by St. Luke's saying that 
Mary herself was able to fold His little garment 
about Him— to "wrap Him up in swaddling 
clothes." No other hands were worthy to first 
touch and care for her Son than hers who had 
been made worthy to bear Him. 

The birth of Jesus was in the winter season, 
J about the Jewish month Tebeth ; but the exact 
day it seems impossible to fix, or even the ex- 
act year. That it was about the Roman year 
750 is certain. The many learned writers who 
have studied the question have by no means 
settled it : the year is uncertain, but is fixed 
within one or two of that above given, and the 
day near the end of December. Meantime the 
Christian people keep the traditional Christmas 
of their forefathers. 



t 



CHAPTER X. 

THE CHILD JESUS IS CIRCUMCISED. 
Luke it. 21. 

IT was God's will that the first drops of blood shed' 
for our redemption should be an offering of obedience; 
to the law of Moses. Let the old law go out with; 
all honor ; let it enroll in letters of royal blood the. 
name of the New Man, the new-born Messias. " And 
after eight days were accomplished that the Child 
should be circumcised, His name was called Jesus, 
which was called by the angel before He was con-, 
ceived in the womb." 

John the Baptist's circumcision receives from St. 
Luke an extended notice , not only because John was 



THE CHILD JESUS IS CIRCUMCISED. 81 

the Precursor of the Messias, and that his circumcision 
gave occasion to Zachary's Benedictus, but also and 
especially because John was essentially and entirely 
a subject of the Old Law, of which circumcision was 
the symbol. The Evangelist gives but a brief mention 
to the circumcision of Jesus, because in His case the 
King pays no tribute. He is superior to the law of 
Moses, which He came to supersede ; He is its institu- 
tor and the High-Priest of all its rites. Yet out of 
complaisance to it Jesus was circumcised. 

Circumcision was not performed in the Temple or 
synagogue, but in the private household of the family, 
so that our infant Saviour was cut and bled into the 
Hebrew religion in the humble abode to which the 
Holy Family had removed from the stable ; for it is 
very probable that they had so removed, because 
when the Magi came they found the Child in a house. 
To administer circumcision was the prerogative of the 
father or mother of the child, not a sacerdotal office ; 
no doubt it was Joseph who drew from the veins of 
the Divine Infant the first offerings of redeeming 
love, — that atoning blood whose very fever heat was 
love of mankind. The words accompanying the act 
were: "Blessed be Jehovah the Saviour. He hath 
sanctified His well beloved from the womb of his 
mother and hath written His law in our flesh. He 
hath signed His son with the sign of His covenant, 
that He may impart to him the blessings of Abraham 
our father." And the assistants answered in the 
words of the Psalmist : ' ' Blessed be he whom Thou 
hast chosen for Thy child." 

The name Jesus had already been given by the 
Heavenly Father in the angelic messages to both Mary 
and Joseph. This name is Josue in Hebrew, and was 
famed as the title of the son of Nun, the mighty war- 



82 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




rior whom Moses made 
general-in-chief of the 
Lord's people, and who 
led them over the Jor- 
dan into the promised 
land, a large part of 
which was subdued and 
occupied by them under ; 
his mighty leadership. 
Josue means Saviour, 
and its Greek form is 
Jesus. 

God the Father hav- 
ing bestowed the name 
Jesus, Joseph, whom 
Heaven had appointed 
to act as the Child's 
earthly father, carried 
out the divine purpose, 
and solemnly repeated the angel's words : " Thou shalt 
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from 
their sins." The sacred records join another name to 
that of Jesus : the word Messias, in Greek, Christ, or 
the anointed ; the anointed Saviour of mankind is thus 
the Lord's full name. Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Mary, 
is the human being who is anointed with the divine 
nature and made a divine person ; also : Jesus of Naza- 
reth is the chosen King, as His father David was, and 
is anointed in token of His divine kingship ; and again : 
the word Messias, so significant to the Jews, concen- 
trated the meaning of all the prophets of old when 
telling of Israel's redeemer. 

Jesus Christ is and always was the only and full 
name of our Saviour. Ever since the primitive Church 
began to use it, it is the sweetest name and the mightiest 



BETHLEHEM FROM THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY. 



THE CHILD JESUS IS CIRCUMCISED. 83 

name ever spoken. Under heaven there is no other 
name given by which men may be saved. God's au- 
thorized Saviour is the meaning of the name, prophetic 
as Joseph pronounced it, in actual fulfilment as we 
know it, and to a degree beyond power of words to 
estimate. Ever since that solemn investment of the 
Divine Infant with His name and title, the lips of men 
and women and children have spoken the name of Jesus 
Christ in joy and sorrow, in faith and hope and love 
and penitence, in face of torments and in disdain of 
allurements, in the quiet of contemplation and in the 
whirlwind of temptation. The name Jesus Christ has 
been the watchword of all that was best in humanity, 
most virtuous, greatest, and most heroic. More and 
more that name prevails for all that is good and wise, 
and for the salvation of the human race. Thus was 
Jesus circumcised, and thus was the original purpose 
of that holy rite finally fulfilled, for Abraham and his 
race were marked with it as a token that the Messias 
was to come. 

It was a popular Jewish belief that at every circum- 
cision Klias the prophet was invisibly present among 
the ten regular witnesses, a reminder of the fiercest and 
most aggressive loyalty of the Hebrew to Jehovah. 
If this was true, Klias must have embraced the Infant 
Messias with loving reverence, and proclaimed that the 
outward mark of circumcision was now to be sup- 
planted by the inner character of divine sonship 
stamped upon the soul, no longer the scar in the flesh 
marking the true child of Abraham, but the soul's faith 
in Jesus Christ elevating man to sonship with God. 



THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 




CHAPTER XI. 

THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 

Matt. ii. 1-12. 

After Mar}- and Joseph, the first to be called to the 
adoration of the New-Born were the simple children 
of nature : God has always preferred the men who 
plough the fields and watch the flocks and ply the tools 
of our common lot of labor ; the class to which Jesus 
and Mary and Joseph belonged. After them, the best 
fitted for supernatural faith are upright men of science. 
Hence, the shepherds were succeeded hy the Wise Men 
of the East in paying homage to Jesus. 

Their country was Chaldea. In that country in 
former ages the people of God had lived in captivity, 
and their Scriptures must have been known to many of 
the more learned Chaldeans. Perhaps the Magi had 
received the holy books of the Hebrews as heirlooms 
from their fathers, and in them had learned the 
promise of a Redeemer. But it is well known that 
Zoroaster, their great philosopher, plainly taught that 
God would some day send a mighty teacher to man- 
kind, who would conquer evil and establish good in the 
world. There was ample material in all this for the 



THE A DORA TION OF THE MAGI. 



«5 



investigations of scientific inquirers after truth, a class 
whose love of research is proverbial. But these men 
were not only enlightened men of science, they were 
also earnest and religious spirits, sharing in some way 
or other, we may well suppose, the Messianic hopes of 
Israel. 

God had sent angels to announce the Glad Tidings 
to the shepherds, a direct mode of com- 
munication fitted to simple minds and 
requiring no discourse of reasoning to 
understand. He acted otherwise with 
the scholars of the Orient. They were 
used to observing the heavens for the 
truths of science, a high vocation, and 
one which God would honor in an 
especial manner. They sought for 
natural truth among the heavenly 
bodies ; God spoke to them among the 
stars, and it was the language of su- 
pernatural hope. 

There is no valid evidence that 
the Magi were kings. They were ru- 
lers in the realm of intellect and priests 
of the temple of natural science. They 
came from the East — Chaldea — whence 
God had originally called Abraham. These souls were 
the elect among the Gentiles, representatives of one of 
the nobler castes of human kind. The brilliant orb in 
the midnight sky turned their steps towards Jerusalem, 
the one point, as the Magi well knew, in the geography 
of the earth that centred universal expectation ; and 
now, in the ever open book of the sky, they had a chart 
to guide their journeying thither. Great modern as- 
tronomers have endeavored, with some show of success, 
to prove that the ' ' star ' ' was but an extraordinary 




" There came wise men from the 
East to Jerusalem " (Matt. ii. i). 



86 



THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



"WE HAVE SEEN" HIS STAR IN THE EAST." 

When Jesus therefore was born in Beth- 
lehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, 
behold there came wise men from the 
East to Jerusalem, saying : Where is he 
that is born King of the Jews ? For we 
have seen his star in the East, and are come 
to adore him. And king Herod hearing 
this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with 
him. And assembling together all the 
chief priests and the Scribes of the people, 
he inquired of them where Christ should 
be born. But they said to him : In Bethle- 
hem of Juda. For so it is written by the 
prophet : And thou Bethlehem the land of 
Juda art not the least among the princes of 
Juda : Jor out oj thee shall come fbrth the 
captain that shall rtile my people Israel. 
Then Herod privately calling the wise men 
learned diligently of them the time of the 
star which appeared to them ; and sending 
them into Bethlehem said : Go and dili- 
gently inquire after the child ; and when 
you have found him, bring me word again, 
that I also may come and adore him. And 
when they had heard the king, they went 
their way : and behold, the star, which 
they had seen in the East, went before them, 
until it came and stood over where the 
child was. And, seeing the star, they re- 
joiced with exceeding joy. And going into 
the house, they found the child with Mary 
his mother : and falling down, they adored 
him : and opening their treasures, they 
offered to him gifts, gold, frankincense, 
and myrrh. And having received an an- 
swer in sleep, that they should not return 
to Herod, they went back another way 
into their own country. 



natural phenomenon which God used for His purpose. 
But the onry entirely satisfactory explanation is that it 
was wholly miraculous; this alone explains why the 
Magi, astronomers by profession, were irresistibly moved 
to follow it. This shining meteor of the heavens beckon- 
ed them on like the pillar of fire leading the Israelites 
across the desert. They remembered the prophecy of 
Balaam (Numbers xxiv. 17) : "A star shall rise out 
of Jacob, and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel." 
That star was indicative of the Teacher they sought 

after, and its apparition led them 

ever onward with steady light. 
They were not victims of the 
preposterous delusions of astrol- 
ogy, but reasonable men of learning, 
assimilating their natural knowledge 
to the supremacy of supernatural 
revelation. Scarcely any passage of 
Holy Writ is so sublime as the brief 
and simple narrative of their arrival 
at Jerusalem : ' ' Now, when Jesus 
was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in 
the days of King Herod, behold 
there came wise men from the Bast 
to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He 
that is born King of the Jews, for 
we have seen His star in the East, 
and are come to adore Him." 

They had doubtless expected to 
find the city of Jerusalem in an 
ecstasy of joy, and they hoped to 
pay their court to the royal heir 
amid the pomp of civil and religious 
rejoicing. "Where is He that is 
born King of the Jews ? ' ' they in- 



THE ADORA TION OF THE MAGI. 



87 



stantly inquired on reaching Jerusalem — as if to shame 
the indifference of the unworthy subjects of so great 
a monarch. They found no special religious excite- 
ment in the city over the cradle of the new-born 
King, whom even the heathen nations were seeking 
that they might pay Him tribute. Their inquiry grew 
quickly into a general questioning, and reached the 
ears of the aged tyrant Herod. This monster had 
killed his own children on suspicion of their purpose 
to supplant him ; what must have been his feelings 
when he learned of this heaven-guided embassy ? Who 
is the new claimant ? Where is he ? The cunning 
old man dissembled his terror, and tried to use the 
faith of the Magi as a cloak to his fell designs. "And 
when he had gathered all the chief priests 
and scribes of the people together, he demanded 
of them where Christ should be born. And 
they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Juda. 
For so it is written by the prophet." This 
answer of the Sanhedrin deepened the misgiv- coin of herod the great. 
ings of the tyrant and darkened his evil mind yet 
more against the New-Born. He called the Wise 
Men to a private interview and questioned them about 
the star. His directions to them, however honest the 
sound of the words, were given in bitter and scoff- 
ing irony. He said, " Go, and inquire after the Child, 
and when you have found Him, bring me word again, 
that I also may come and adore Him." That is to say, 
( ' I intend to kill Him ; and I will kill you too if you 
are simple enough to return to me." 

All this profoundly discouraged the Magi, and 
severely tried their faith. They were strangers ; they 
had travelled from a great distance ; they had over- 
come many obstacles in order to pay homage to the 
new-born King of the Jews. And the Jews them- 




38 



THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




" And opening their 
treasures, they offered 
him gifts" (Matt. ii. h). 



selves were indifferent, and they more than suspected 
that their king was incredulous and scornful. Might 
not they themselves be victims of an illusion? they 
must have thought. If the Jewish king and his 
priests had no living faith in their own prophets, how 
could they, Gentiles as they were, trust the mys- 
tery of the star? But they did trust it. At the end 
of the perplexities of that sad day, the Magi, not 
waiting till the following morning, set out in the 
deepening twilight for Bethlehem. Sorrowfully they 
gazed into the darkening sky, when suddenly the 
miraculous star shone out before them, as if it were 
the great lantern of an angel beckoning them to con- 
tinue their journey under his guidance. It led them 
on " till it came and stood over where the Child 
was." It led them on through the gaps of the moun- 
tains of Judea, and at last rested upon the house to 
which, after leaving the stable, the Holy Family had 
removed. " And going into the house, they found 
the Child with Mary His mother : and falling down, 
they adored Him. And opening their treasures, they 
offered to Him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh." 
This triple offering meant more than mere reverence 
or loyalty. It was eminently a religious oblation, 
both real and symbolical. Perhaps they did not at 
first know the divine nature of the Child- God, but, 
at least vaguely, they understood that here the Deity 
was nearest humanity. Gold, therefore, to God's 
royal dignity ; myrrh to His beloved but mortal hu- 
man frame ; and incense to the Deity's proper self, 
whose tender and powerful influence seemed to beam 
into their very souls from the lovely Babe enthroned 
in Mary's arms. Her words dispelled every doubt, 
she answered every question. Before these devout 
ambassadors of the Gentile world had taken their 



THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI. 



*9 



departure from Bethlehem, all 
that Mary, all that Joseph knew, 
had been told them — a unique 
favor, due to souls so upright; 
to servitors of heavenly wisdom 
so entirely loyal. 

But what about the injunction 
of Herod to return to him with 
news of the infant King ? As 
they thought of it they must 
have contrasted the Holy Family 
at Bethlehem, radiant with every 
beauty of innocence and love and 
wisdom, with the gloomy palace 
of Herod, full of scoffing unbe- 
lief, jealousy, suspicion, deceit, 
cruelty. Their distrust of Herod 
was miraculously confirmed : 
1 ' And having received an an- 
swer in sleep, that they should 
not return to Herod, they went 
back another way into their own country." 

Thus the wall of separation between Jew and 
Gentile was thrown down at the very birth of the 
Messias. The Wise Men could, and doubtless did, 
publish to the pagan nations a universal religion as 
now beginning, and promise that not by blood or 
race or will of men, but by the love of the great 
Father of all should men be saved. 

Christian tradition is not agreed as to the number 
of these first Gentile converts, and the earliest Chris- 
tian art in the catacombs represents them indifferently 
as two, three, or four. But the common belief has 
always been that there were but three. Venerable 
Bede witnesses one tradition of their names and per- 




90 THE LIEE OE JESUS CHRIST. 

sonal traits, as well as the order of their offerings. 
The first was Melchior, a venerable man with long 
beard and hair, who offered to the Lord a gift of 
gold, as a subject doing homage to his king ; the 
second was a youth, ruddy and beardless, named Gas- 
par, who offered the gift of incense, as a creature 
adoring his God ; the third was in middle life, and 
was named Balthassar, swarthy and bearded, whose 
gift, that of a fellow-man to the head of the race of 
mortal men, was the embalming spice of myrrh. They 
thus represented the three stages of human life, and 
the three great divisions of the human family, Asiatic, 
European, and African. 



THE PRESENTATION. 



%\ 




CHAPTER XII. 

THE CHII^D JKSUS IS PRESENTED IN THE TEMPLE ~ 
SIMEON, AND ANNA THE PROPHETESS. 

Luke ii. 22-38. 

AR inferior in its ideals and stand- 
ards to Christian marriage was wed- 
lock among the Jews, although a 
holy state. Therefore God annexed 
to every fruit of the Israelite womb a 
vivid reminder of human concupis- 
cence ; this was the law of Purification. Upon the 
birth of a son the mother was tainted with legal un- 
cleanness for an entire week. She could only leave 
her dwelling at the end of forty days, when she was 
required to present herself in the Temple to be made 
clean by the official prayer of the priesthood. If her 
son was her first-born, he was solemnly presented unto 
the special service of Jehovah, from which he was ran- 
somed by the offering of a yearling lamb. 

Now, Mary was exempt from the law of Purifica- 
tion. Legally she was not unclean, for she had 
conceived her Son by a miracle of God. And Jesus 
was not legally subject to the law of Presentation, 
for He was Jehovah's only-begotten Son and Him- 
self the great High-Priest. But the holy virtue of 
humility was to be preferred before personal rights ; 
the divine plan must yet be kept secret, and the 
rules of the Mosaic law were to be treated with 
reverence. And so Mary, under Joseph's escort, 
went to Jerusalem and stood at the door of the Tem- 
ple when her forty days were accomplished, as if 
she too were unclean. One of the priests sprinkled 




! her with the sacrificial blood and declared her puri- 



"A Pair of Turtle 
Doves" £Luke ii. 24). 







L>OVLS OF THE 
ORIENT. 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

fied. Then she ransomed her Son ; and as 
she was too poor to offer the yearling lamb, she 
presented the legal substitute, a present of 
£5^.. two turtle doves. Little did the priest 
officiated dream that the infant 
Son of Mary would of- 
fer Himself to God not 
far from that spot for 
the ransom of the en- 
tire human race in a 
divinely whole burnt 
sacrifice. Little could 
he suppose that here 
was at once the true 
priest and true victim, 
who was to take the 
place of the symbolical 
priesthood and the pro- 
phetical victims, of both 
of which He was the 
perfect realization. 

As far as concerned 
the Presentation of Je- 
sus, His acceptance by the priest and the payment of 
His ransom by His parents, the conformity to outward 
observance concealed the true dignity of the group of 
Galileans : the degenerate priesthood was not worthy 
to know Jesus and Mary and Joseph. But there were 
others present who were worthy : two souls who were 
deeply religious, full of heavenly light, and whom God 
appointed His ambassadors — succeeding the shepherds 
and the Magi — to welcome the Messias to His house 
and to His mission, representatives of the ardent faith 
of ancient days and of true Judaism. Simeon, just 
and holy and expectant of the consolation of Israel, 




"But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her 
heart" (Luke ii. 19). 



THE PRESENTA TION. 



93 



full of the Holy Ghost, while await- 
ing death in his advanced age, had 
been told in a vision that before his 
end he should see the anointed of 
the Iyord. This patriarch of the 
later era of God's people had been 
coming to the Temple for many 
years, hoping to behold the freedom 
of Israel from sin and slavery, just 
as a weary exile goes to the shore 
and scans the horizon for the long 
expected ship. 

But the years passed on, and 
there was no news of the Messias 
till the coming of the Wise Men, 
whose inquiries aroused his hopes. 
But they, alas ! had not returned 
from their search. At last, this true 
son of Abraham, whose faith was 
the principle of his life, was to be 
rewarded. Under the spell of the 
Spirit of God he enters the Tem- 
ple. A first-born son has just been 
offered ; he beholds Him with sud- 
den emotions of tenderness. He 
looks upon the mother, and he asks 
a few hurried questions — Bethlehem, 
the Magi, the Star! He begs the 
privilege of taking the Child in his 
arms, and as the sweet face leans 
upon his bosom and the tender eyes 
of the Infant gaze upon him, the 
Spirit whispers in his heart, It is the Messias ! ' * And 
he blessed God and said, Now thou dost dismiss thy 
servant, O Lord, according to Thy word, in peace. Be- 



THE PRESENTATION. 

And after the days of her purification 
according to the law of Moses were accom- 
plished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to 
present him to the Lord. As it is written 
in the law of the Lord, Every male open- 
ing the womb shall be called holy to the 
Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according 
as it i^ written in the law of the Lord, a pair 
of turtle doves, or two young pigeons. 
And behold there was a man in Jerusalem 
named Simeon, and this man was just and 
devout, waiting for the consolation of 
Israel : and the Holy Ghost was in him. 
And he had received an answer from the 
Holy Ghost, that he should not see death 
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. 
And he came by the Spirit into the 
temple. And when his parents brought 
in the child Jesus, to do for him according 
to the custom of the law, he also took 
him into his arms, and blessed God, and 
said : Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, 
O Lord, according to thy word, in peace. 
Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, 
which thou hast prepared before the face 
of all peoples : a light to the revelation 
of the gentiles, and the glory of thy peo- 
ple Israel. And his father and mother 
were wondering at those things which 
were spoken concerning him. And Simeon 
blessed them, and said to Mary his mo- 
ther : Behold this child is set for the fall, 
and for the resurrection of many in Israel, 
and for a sign which shall be contradicted : 
And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, 
that out of many hearts thoughts may be 
revealed. And there was one Anna, a 
prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of 
the tribe of Aser; she was far advanced 
in years, and had lived with her husband 
seven years from her virginity. And she 
was a widow until fourscore and four years ; 
who departed not from the temple, by fast- 
ings and prayers serving night and day. 
Now she at the same hour coming in, con- 
fessed to the Lord ; and spoke of him to 
all that looked for the redemption of 
Israel. And after they had performed all 
things according to the law of the Lord, 
they returned into Galilee, to their city 
Nazareth. 



94 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

cause my eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou 
hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to 
the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy 
people Israel." 

The man of faith is thus elevated to be a prophet of 
God, sings in holy melod)^ the inspiration of his soul, 
gazes into the future and beholds the narrow race of 
Israel broadened into the great family of humanity, en- 
lightened by the Christ of God, saved by the Holy 
One of the prophets : Oh, now let me lie down in joy and 
die ; I have seen and embraced the Saviour of the 
whole world ! The patriarchs of old, King David, the 
prophets — how solemnly their stirring tones are echoed 
and prolonged upon the voice of Simeon ! 

Who was this grand old Israelite ? There were men 
of much distinction bearing his name in Jerusalem 
about this epoch, and ingenious efforts have been 
made to identify him with one or other of them. 
But in vain ; the curious may study these pious at- 
tempts with pleasure, but as a matter of fact Simeon 
emerges from absolute obscurity, and in one brief 
and fleeting scene pillows the infant Saviour on his 
throbbing heart, lifts up his voice in one of the love- 
liest canticles in Holy Writ, salutes the New-Born 
on behalf of the venerable Mosaic dispensation, — and 
is gone with most sorrowful words of farewell. For 
as Joseph and Mary marvelled at the things that 
Simeon spoke of Jesus, "he blessed them, and said 
unto Mary His mother, Behold this Child is set for the 
fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and 
for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own 
soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts 
thoughts may be revealed." The eye of this patri- 
arch was enlightened to know that although Joseph 
was bound to Jesus by ties of love as adopted father. 



SIMEON, AND ANNA THE PROPHETESS. 95 

Mary alone was bound to Him by those of blood, 
and he spoke therefore to her alone, foretelling the 
meaning of that Cross whose shadowy form he saw 
resting upon the New-Born Babe, and whose agony 
would reach the very soul of the sorrowful mother, as 
the soldier's lance should pierce the heart of her 
crucified Son. 

The glorious old patriarch has been vouchsafed a 
true sight of the future ages. 

The sign of contradiction — what is it but the Cross 
of Jesus Christ ? Men approach it, some to perish 
hopelessly, others to rise gloriously. It has been the 
standard for and against which the race of Adam has 
been ever since embattled — in philosophy, learning, 
literature, government, education. No man and no 
institution of man's making can remain neutral; all 
must be enrolled in warfare for or against the Cross 
of Christ. 

To Simeon God associated Anna the prophetess in 
this greeting of the New-Born. She was a widow far 
advanced in years, to whom the Temple had become a 
home, serving the Lord night and day with fasting 
and prayer. Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, she stood 
beside Simeon, knew Jesus for the Messias, and loving- 
ly welcomed Him to His Temple and His people. It 
is to her, probably, that we owe the details of this 
scene, for St. Luke tells us that she afterwards — with 
how much joy she must have done it ! — spoke of Jesus 
to all who looked for the redemption of Israel. 



96 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. — THE SLAUGHTER OF THE 
INNOCENTS. — THE RETURN TO NAZARETH. 



Matt. 



i3~ 2 3- 



THE FLIGHT 



NAZA- 



St. Luke, who does not narrate the flight into 
Egypt, says that after the Presentation the Holy 
Family returned to Nazareth; but 
this can only mean upon the return 
from Egypt, whither God sent them 
to escape the wrath of Herod. This 
is narrated by St. Matthew, who, 
after telling of the departure of the 
Magi, says : " Behold the angel of 
the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, 
saying : Arise, and take the Child 
and His mother, and fly into Egypt, 
and be there until I shall tell thee : 
for it shall come to pass that Herod 
will seek the Child to destroy Him." 
It seems altogether likely that 
Joseph had decided to live in Beth- 
lehem, the City of David, and there- 
fore of David's successor. A work- 
ing-man like Joseph makes no great 
ceremony of changing abode ; his 
own strong arms and his good trade 
are his best and generally his only 
fortune. Furthermore, the sojourn 
in Bethlehem doubtless gave the 
Holy Family enough of considera- 
tion to secure Joseph the patronage 
he needed for the support of his 
family. But it is also probable that after the Presen- 
tation he stayed over- night in Jerusalem with some 



THE SLAUGHTER 
RETH. 

And behold, an Angel of the Lord ap- 
peared in sleep to Joseph, saying : Arise, 
and take the child and his mother, and 
fly into Egypt ; and be there until I shall 
tell thee. For it will come to pass that 
Herod will seek the child, to destroy 
him. Who rising up, took the child and 
his mother by night, and retired into 
Egypt. And he was there until the death of 
Herod : that it might be fulfilled which 
the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying : 
Out of Egypt have I called my son. Then 
Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by 
the wise men, was exceeding angry ; and, 
sending, killed all the men-children that 
were in Bethlehem, and in all the confines 
thereof, from two years old and under, 
according to the time which he had dili- 
gently inquired of the wise men. Then 
was fulfilled that which was spoken by 
Jeremias the prophet, saying: A voice in 
Rama was heard, lamentation and great 
mourning; Rachel bewailing her chil- 
dren, and would not be comforted, because 
they are not. But when Herod was dead, 
behold an Angel of the Lord appeared in 
sleep to Joseph in Egypt, saying : Arise, 
and take the child and his mother, and 
go into the land of Israel. For they are 
dead that sought the life of the child. 
Who arose, and took the child and his 
mother, and came into the land of Israel. 
But hearing that Archelaus reigned in 
Judea in the room of Herod his father, 
he was afraid to go thither : and being 
warned in sleep, retired into the quarters 
of Galilee. And coming he dwelt in a 
city called Nazareth : that it might be ful- 
filled which was said by the prophets : 
that he shall be called a Nazarite. 



i THE PLIGHT INTO EGYPT 



97 



Galilean kinsfolk abiding there ; and then it was that 
j the voice of the angel sounded in his startled soul : 
"Arise, and take the Child and His mother, and fly 
I into Egypt." Before the dawn of day Joseph and 
j Mary and the sleeping Babe were hurrying away to 
j that country which had been the asylum of distressed 
j Hebrews since the days of Abraham. 

Many Jews were in Egypt, and of one of their 
synagogues there it was said that its splendor 
recalled the glory of Solomon's temple. These 
Jews of Egypt were divided according to their 
occupations, and Joseph could easily find a modest 
living among the carpenters, though perhaps the 
gifts of the Wise Men to the New-Born supplied every 
want. Prodigies are told of the journey of this holy 
group and their arrival upon the Nile. Curious tradi- 
tions tell of Demas, the "good thief," afterwards the 
companion of Jesus on Calvary, harboring the Holy 
Family during one of the halts on the way ; of the 
lions and leopards adoring the divine Infant by humble 
prostrations ; of the palm-trees bending low their grace- 
ful tops and offering their delicious fruit ; of the 
heathen idols falling down and break- 
ing to pieces as the New-Born came 
in sight. But the Gospel narrative is 
simply that Joseph " arose and took 
the Child and His mother by night, 
and retired into Egypt, and was there 
until the death of Herod." 

Many of our readers have seen an 
engraving of a masterpiece, showing 
the Egyptian Sphinx, and Mary with 
her Child in her arms resting between 
the great stone paws of the figure, 
which gazes into the starry sky, while 




ANCIENT STATUE ON THE 
PLAIN OF THEBES. 




"Took the Child and his mothef 
by night, and retired into Egypt " 
(Matt. ii. 14). 



9§ 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




Joseph keeps guard on the sands below. The 
Sphinx represented poor puzzled humanity gazing 
helplessly into the silent heavens, waiting for an 
answer to the riddle of human life. The coming 
of the God-man is the answer. 

The tyrant from whom Joseph fled with Mary 
and the Child was now drawing near the end of one of 
the most terrible careers known to history. If we might 
naturally hesitate to believe in the possibility of the 
slaughter of the Innocents, let us recall what kind of a 
monster unquestioned authors tells lis Herod actually 
was. Not only had he murdered Jewish priests and 
other prominent men of his kingdom, but he had killed 
his own sons, Alexander, Aristobulus, and Antipater, 
as well as his wife's father and mother ; 
he had butchered his most devoted 
personal friends ; he had strangled 
Mariamne, the faithful wife whom he 
passionately loved. And all this 
qtC^ slaughter seemed but to increase his 
A y/\ thirst for blood. History relates that 
Pns? as he felt his death coming on he pur- 
posed enclosing in the amphitheatre of 
Jericho the leading members of the 
noblest families of Israel and having 
them massacred on the day of his death. 
" Then," said he, " there will be tears 
at my funeral." 

There can be no doubt that Herod, 
restless and suspicious at the failure of 
the Magi to return to him, was told by 
the officers of the Temple of the start- 
ling occurrences at the Presentation — 
the strange conduct of Simeon and 
an arab sheik. his inspired song, the words of Anna 




THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 



99 



the prophetess addressed to the people ; it 
was enough to goad him on to unmeasured 
violence. Here is a rival claimant of the 
royal power, born in Bethlehem, presented 
in the Temple, and now — as Herod supposed 
— returned again to Bethlehem, his domicile 
as King David's heir. The emotion among 
the people, arising from the events in the 
Temple must have seemed to him like an g 
invasion of his capital, his gloomy spirit was 
tormented with vague fears of rebellion and 
assassination. How profound the contrast 
between the turbulent soul of this cruel 
monster, only the more ferocious as he felt his life 
drawing to an end, and the peaceful hearts of the lit- 
tle group passing down the steps of the Temple, soon 
to be warned by an angel to fly away to Egypt in 
safety. In vain did Herod issue his 
dreadful command for the slaughter of 
the children at Bethlehem. 

The number of the Innocents must 
have been between twenty and thirty, a 
due proportion for a town estimated at 
fifteen hundred inhabitants. How were 
they killed? Perhaps by one common 
butchery, or perhaps by a more secret and 
cunning kind of murder. Secular history 
has forgotten, or almost forgotten, to 
record this event, which, at any rate, 
would be but a lesser stain upon a reign 
all smeared with blood. The Christian 
people have always cherished the memory 
of these first martyrs of Christ, and the 
agony of their mothers, as one of the 
most touching incidents connected with 




A CAMEL POST. 




A MODERN HAGAR. 



IOO 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




" Herod sending killed all the men 
children that were in Bethlehem ' 
(Matt. ii. 16). 



our Saviour's nativity. It is a popular 
belief that God granted the Innocents a 
premature use of reason, that they 
might know their heroic fate and glad- 
ly accept it, and thus have the merit 
of it. 

King Herod's death took place soon 
after this awful deed. A fitting end 
of such a life would have been self- 
murder, but although he attempted it 
his attendants hindered him. He burn- 
ed with incessant fever and was parch- 
ed with raging thirst which nothing 
could quench. The whole palace reek- 
ed with the filthy stench of his body, 
rotting before its time. His intestines 
were tortured by the agonizing pain 
of a deadly ulcer, and protruded from 
his body. To these corporal miseries 
were added, we may not doubt, the 
most awful mental torments, among which survived 
the passion of envy ; for only five days prior to his 
death he caused his son Antipater to be murdered. 
Then he died, aged sixty-nine, in the thirty-fourth 
year of his reign — an era signalized by his unrivalled 
wickedness and by the happy birth of Jesus Christ. 

Again the angel comes to Joseph in Egypt — how 
soon or late after Herod's death we know not — and 
says to him: "Arise, and take the Child and His 
mother, and go into the land of Israel, for they are 
dead who sought the life of the Child." As he entered 
the Holy Land, Joseph learned that Archelaus reigned 
in Judea. He did not trust him and would not go 
to Bethlehem, for that prince was already a public 
murderer. But Galilee had beeu given as a separate 



THE RETURN TO NAZARETH. 



IOT 



kingdom to another son of the elder Herod. This 
prince was Herod Antipas, the earlier years of whose 
government were peaceful. Joseph's angelic monitor, 
therefore, bade him go back to 
Nazareth, which thus became 
the home of Jesus. 

In this way did God save 
His Son from the cruelty of His 
enemies, as well as from the 
premature manifestation of His 
divine personality on the part 
of His friends. The shepherds, 
the Magi, Simeon, Anna, the 
other faithful depositaries of God's prodigy, could 
commune devoutly with a small number of favored 
souls — but where is the New-Born King ? In the 
obscurity of a little Galilean city He bides His 
time. 




"Rachel bewailing her children, and would 
not be comforted, because they are not" (Matt, 
ii. 18). 




RACHEL'S SEPULCHRE. 



102 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XIV. 




V^g?=^ 




THE) CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. 

Luke ii. 40. 

^ V ND the Child grew and waxed strong, full of 
wisdom, and the grace of God was in Him." 
St. Luke might have said as much of any 
holy child, but in this case he touches upon 
one of the great mysteries of the Incarnation : 
the natural development of the man Jesus. 
It is certain that He had the use of reason 
from the instant of His conception, yet in all external 
conduct He was led into active and intelligent use 
of His mental faculties as other boys are; and just 
as His bodily force was brought out and established 
in a graceful, muscular frame by the labors of a car- 
penter's apprentice, so by the teaching of Mary and 
Joseph His understanding was trained. He learned 
the first lessons of Hebrew morality and worship at 
the same time and place that He learned to 
handle the carpenter's tools. Never were such 
teachers as Mary and Joseph. God allowed 
the human soul of His Son Jesus to be in- 
structed by them, and the Holy Spirit fitted 
them for their task. 

His human nature was not a mere ap- 
pearance, but a full reality. The divine nature 
might indeed have taken possession of all His 
human faculties and assumed imperative con- 
trol, and no other teaching would have then 
been possible. But God willed otherwise. 
Jesus was taught, Jesus learned, He studied, 
He thought, He reasoned as men do from 
childhood up. The exception to this humanly 



THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. 



103 



natural process was when it was interrupted for a 
special purpose. But ordinarily the humanity of Jesus 
was not absorbed by His divinity. Soul and body 
were perfect in their humanity, which always remained 
wholly itself. It used its personal contact with the 
divine nature to save itself from errors and weaknesses, 
but never to become such a prodigy as to be beyond 
reach of imitation. 

At the summit of His conscious life the man Jesus 
felt the unitive personal bond of the God Jesus. But 
the divinity was displayed only exceptionally, in some 
marvel necessary to overwhelm the dul- 
ness of the people or the incredulity 
of the Scribes. Hence He stored His 
memory by human means ; He exer- 
cised His intelligence by the use of 
His eyes and ears. He learned to read 
and to write as other boys do. He 
passed from the simple intuition of 
childhood gradually and progressively 
to the reasoned processes of developing 
mental powers. " And Jesus advanced 
in wisdom and age and grace with God 
and men." While a child He did not 
act like a man ; He was glad to be a 
child and childlike. His perfection 
was perfect childhood. 

As His years increased, so did His 
human wisdom : by the lessons of 
nature always about Him, by the teach- 
ing of His parents, by the habits of 
thought common to children, by the pious practices of 
a perfect Hebrew family. Always this increase of 
human wisdom was lighted up by the eternal wisdom 
that dwelt within Him ; but the human soul never lost 




io4 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



its distinct identity. We may, therefore, put aside 
the infantile miracles of the apocryphal gospels as 
myths. What purpose could they serve, except to 
embarrass Mary and Joseph ? Besides, St. John tells 
us that the "beginning of miracles" was at the 
wedding of Cana. How much more reasonable, as 
well as edifying, is the actual fact as given by St. 
Luke, that He was obedient to His parents — modest, 
sweet, gentle, full of grace and piety, beloved of 
God and man. He has thus sanctified childhood and 
youth, that most beautiful epoch of human life, and 
made Himself the patron and model of childhood's 
sunny existence. 

Our Saviour's home during all these happy years 
was the little Galilean city of Nazareth. It is now 
almost exactly what it was in the olden time. It 
lies some miles westward from Lake Genesareth, in 
a picturesque opening of the range of hills which is 
the southern boundary of the plain of Ksdrelon. 
There are to- 
day, travellers 
tell us, the same 
kind of houses 
in which the 
Holy Family 
dwelt scattered 
along the nar- 
row streets — 
small and 
square, with 
of rough stone, 




walls 



STAIRS AND TERRACES OF HOUSES IN GALILEE. 



^' windows few and small, 
roofs flat. Little groups of 
trees are seen, sycamores and 
cypresses, all so old that one 



THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. 



log 




THE WORKSHOP AT NAZARETH. 



can fancy the ' ' Son 
of Joseph the carpen- 
ter" having enjoyed 
their shade as He 
took His noon-day 
rest in the long ago. 
When the sun has 
set, the groups ofe 
men and their wives 
and little ones chat 
together in the even- 
ing air, and are seen 
before bed-time en- 
gaged in their even- 
ing prayers, just as 
the Holy Family was wont to do. There is the 
spring from which during so many ages the villagers 
have got their supply of water, and we can fancy 
Mary and her little Boy amid the groups that now 
pass to and fro with their water-jugs. We hear 
boys at play, and we know that the Boy Jesus 
played and laughed and was merry with other boys, 
right upon these same great rocks and up and down 
these same sloping hills. 

Here is a carpenter shop, without the least doubt 
just like the one in which Jesus lived and worked 
and from which He went forth to be baptized by John. 
Everything tells of very limited means, but there is 
no sign of actual penury. It is not imagination, it is 
the valid reproduction of reality which shows us here 
the Holy Family : a grave-looking man in the prime 
of life is at work, his wife looks on, both smile at their 
little Boy as He plays among the shavings. The little 
shop is backed by the hill-side into which a chamber 
has been excavated. There is a rack in which the 



io6 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



■^$M*l£ "~S."t r :Wi 



tools are set, saws and axes and 
chisels, and there are various 
little piles of rough boards. In 
such a dwelling lived Jesus and 
Mary and Joseph between the 
return from Egypt and the be- 
ginning of His public life. 

Mary, adhering to the custom 
of Oriental mothers, weaned her 
Child only after two years, cele- 
brating the event with the festive 
union of neighbors and relations. 
At the age of five the father 
began to teach the Boy the law 
of God. Thus the carpenter 
shop was ever associated in the memory of Jesus 
with the wonderful things told of God's people in 
the Hebrew Scriptures, and the sublime principles 
and precepts of the Mosaic law. 




A carpenter's 

SHOP IN THE 

EAST. 




And the Child grew, and waxed strong, full of wis- 
dom ; and the grace of God was in him " (.Luke ii. 40). 



JESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS OF THE LA W. 107 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE CHILD JESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS OF THE LAW. 
Luke ii. 41-50. 

At the age of twelve, when, with the precocity of 
the youth of Eastern lands, Jesus began to widen 
the reach of His mental faculties, He gave Mary and 
Joseph a momentary glimpse of His great mission. 
The visit of Jesus, His parents all unknowing, to the 
precincts of the Temple, and what happened there, is 
a connecting link between the Presentation and His 
appearance as Messias on the banks of the Jordan. 
The divine zeal of Jesus was not visible in early 
childhood, but the heart of the Boy was ablaze with 
it, and He allowed it suddenly to burst forth eighteen 
years before His public manifestation, 
and then as suddenly to sink back 
within its secret receptacle. 

The age of twelve was an important 
epoch in a Jewish boy's life. Then 
the law laid its hard hand on him, 
and at the same time dispensed its 
spiritual privileges. Of the latter a 
special favor was assisting at the majes- 
tic solemnities of the Temple during 
the feasts of the Pasch, or Passover, 
and those of Tabernacles and Pente- 
cost. Women might attend if they 
wished, and often went with the men 
and boys, as did Mary on this first 
occasion of our Saviour's pilgrimage 
to the holy places. 

If we bear in mind that Jesus, even 
in childhood, could never have been 
unconscious of His divine nature and < « Going up to Jerusalem" (Luke ii. 42). 




io8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



"I MUST BE ABOUT MY FATHER'S BUSI- 
NESS." 

And his parents went every year to Jeru- 
salem, at the solemn day of the pasch. 
And when he Avas twelve years old, they 
going up into Jerusalem according to the 
custom of the feast, and having fulfilled 
the days, when they returned, the child 
Jesus remained in Jerusalem: and his 
parents knew it not. And thinking that 
he was in the company, they came a day's 
journey, and sought him among their 
kinsfolks and acquaintances. And not 
finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, 
seeking him. And it came to pass, that 
after three days they found him in the 
temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, 
hearing them, and asking them questions. 
And all that heard him were astonished 
at his wisdom, and his answers. And 
seeing him, they wondered. And his 
mother said to him : Son, why hast thou 
done so to us ? behold, thy father and I 
have sought thee sorrowing. And he said 
to them : How is it that you sought me ? 
did you not know that I must be about 
my Father's business ? And they under- 
stood not the word that he spoke unto 
them. And he went down with them, and 
came to Nazareth, and was subject to 
them. And his mother kept all these 
words in her heart. And Jesus advanced 
in wisdom, and age, and grace with God 
and men. 



His mission of redemption, we can 
understand how deeply the Passover 
festival must have moved Him, now 
witnessed for the first time. Its 
symbols all pointed to Himself, its 
memorials were all to be made living 
realities in His own career. When 
the ceremonies were over, and the 
time came to depart homeward, He 
clung to the Temple by an instinct 
of ownership too strong to be resist- 
ed. Why not begin now? — such 
was His thought. Samuel had be- 
gun even earlier. The Divine Spirit 
mastered Him, and when His mother 
and father started towards Nazareth 
He could not help returning into the 
Temple. "Born to give testimony 
to the truth" — He will describe 
His mission in these words one day 
to Pontius Pilate — He would now 
make a beginning of that glorious 
ministry, and He would do it in the Temple, the very 
heart of His race and His religion. 

Meantime Mary and Joseph, journeying home- 
ward, did not at first miss their Child. He might 
easily be lost to view in a long-drawn-out caravan, 
made up of relatives, friends, neighbors, separated into 
different groups, some mounted on camels or asses, 
some trudging along on foot, the entire company 
conversing about the events of the holy week, or 
chanting the Psalms of David. Perhaps Mary and 
Joseph were for a time separated from each other, 
and when Jesus went back to the Temple the mother 
may have thought Him with Joseph, and he have 



JESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS OF THE LA W. 109 




*E,f&W 



fancied the Boy to be with His mother : and so 
the first day passed without anxiety. But when 
the evening halt was reached at Sichem or 
Shiloh, and the scattered members of families 
came together to arrange for the night, the dis- 
tress of Mary and Joseph was extreme : the Boy 
Jesus did not appear, He was not to be found. 
After an anxious night the holy couple started 
back to Jerusalem, arriving there only at nightfall, 
and darkness and the confusion of departing caravans 
hindered further search till the morning ; and that was 
the third day. Finally they found Him " in the Tem- 
ple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them 
and asking them questions." 

There were three rooms set apart for purposes of 
instruction in the Temple, and in one of them sat 
Jesus, not on a doctor's seat, but lower down as an in- 
quirer. Dur- 
ing the two 
previous days 
He had sat 
there by in- 
vitation, al- 
ready a favor- 
ite disciple. 
They were 
astonished at 
His wisdom 
and His an- 
swers to the 
difficult ques- 
tions with 
which they 
soon began 

1 -j tj. " They found him in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking 

IO ply ±lim ; them questions" (Luke ii. 46). 




$10 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

tliey made the beautiful Boy the centre of an admir- 
ing circle. The rabbis taught usually by question 
and answer, now interrogating their pupils, again 
drawing out the latter' s questions, and thus more 
accurately imparting doctrine. The clearness of the 
answers Jesus gave, the originality of His statement, 
the freedom from formalism of this first exponent 
of the new teaching, both pleased and puzzled the 
rigid doctors of the law : they began to think that a 
transcendent religious genius was dawning in this 
unknown Boy whom they had seated among them c 
Let us admire the humility of this divine Master, who 
thus begins to teach by submitting to be a disciple. 

From what Mary said to Jesus as she ran to Him 
and embraced Him we must believe that nothing in 
her Son's life heretofore had prepared her for this 
occurrence. Both she and Joseph were greatly struck 
by this sudden change. They could not help being 
proud of Him, as they saw those gray-beards of the 
Temple under the spell of their Boy's words ; powerful 
words, glowing face, transfigured form. Joseph did 
not speak. He was, it everywhere appears, a natural- 
ly silent man, and no speech or word of his is recorded 
in Scripture ; Joseph now said nothing. But Mary's 
heart burst forth: "Son, why hast Thou done so to 
us ? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrow- 
ing." The fears of a loving heart deafen reason, for 
Mary herself might have answered that question hy 
remembering the angel's word at her conception of 
Jesus. Her Child quickly recalled her to a calmer 
mind : ' ' And He said to them : How is it that yc 
sought Me ? Did you not know that I must be about 
My Father's business?" 

This sentence, the first recorded words of the 
Messias, brief and quickly spoken, is like a temple 



<?ESUS AMONG THE DOCTORS OF THE LAW. in 



door suddenly flung open and as suddenly shut again : 
it opens wide for one instant the whole life of Jesus 
as the messenger of Heaven. He has but one Father, 
God ; there is but one occupation worthy of Him, 
the business of the Father — to teach and save man- 
kind. If He returns now to Nazareth, it will be to 
spend the eighteen years remaining before He begins 
His public life in teaching Mary and Joseph, making 
them overflowing reservoirs of the waters of heavenly 
wisdom to be dispensed in all future ages from their 
happy places in His Father's house above. They 
are to be His secret apostles, as the Twelve shall be 
His public ones. The power 
of Mary over Jesus, as His 
Mother and as His foremost 
disciple, was very fully shown 
by His yielding to her and 
granting her His exclusive 
company during the bloom 
of His youth and early man- 
hood, with no protest but 
His reminder of His mission 
from His Father. 

That answer of Jesus to 
His mother, respectful but 
firm, toned and poised with 
clear decision exactly as His 
future utterances shall al- 
ways be, foreshadows the 
whole Gospel : the divine 
Sonship, the Glad Tidings, 
the salvation through His 
Mediation and Atonement. 
She saw it all : * ' His mother 
kept all these words in her 




" How is it that you sought me ? Did you not know 
I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke ii.49). 



112 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



heart" ; and in after years, when they had been so 
wonderfully realized, she doubtless imparted them to 
the Apostles for record in the sacred chronicle. Mean- 
time He was at Nazareth, awaiting His predestined 
hour ; to Mary and Joseph the world's Teacher and 
Redeemer, to the neighbors only the carpenter's son. 
He worked at His trade with Joseph, making ox- 
yokes, making and mending ploughs, bending over 
His bench, His chisel in hand, or His saw or hammer, 
and thus His neighbors knew Him until, eighteen years 
afterwards, He resumed the life-work He had claimed 
from His parents in the Temple at that memorable 
Passover. 




THE HIDDEN LIFE A T NAZARETH. 113 

CHAPTER XVI. 
THE HIDDEN IJFE AT NAZARETH. 

Luke ii. 51, 52. 

Having plainly shown His conscious touch with 
His heavenly Father's guiding hand, Jesus yet " went 
down with [Mary and Joseph] and came to Nazareth, 
and was subject to them." Many a time did Mary's 
eyes strive to penetrate the veil of her Son's hu- 
manity, for she must have felt mystified at His choice 
of Nazareth in preference to Jerusalem, the shop of 
Joseph instead of the schools of the Temple during 
His early manhood, an era of life when His eloquence 
would have thrilled His hearers with youthful ardor. 
Doubtless He explained His Father's plans to her and 
Joseph, but to all others He was silent about them, 
occupied with most commonplace things. His fellows 
knew nothing of His future, of His high religious 
destiny. Why did He not at least evangelize them? 
And why do we not know more of His life during 
the years of manly exuberance and power ? The an- 
swer to this is that the Evangelists were not con- 
cerned with an ordinary narrative, but were chroniclers 
of a work of God, a message from heaven, and the 
words and deeds of Jesus which had immediately 
to do with His Glad Tidings absorbed them ex- 
clusively. 

But how thankful we should be if the Gospels had 
told us something of the personal appearance of Jesus. 
Yet it cannot be doubted that physically He was a 
noble and striking figure, for St. Luke tells us of 
His increase in stature in such terms as to indicate 
a full manly development. Hence, in common with 
all modern writers, we reject the fancy of certain 



H4 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




Ol.1^ 



?HE SON OF THE 
CARPENTER. 



earl}- Fathers, that He was of low size 
and mean appearance. He was a full- 
sized and handsome man — more than this 
we cannot be sure of. Devout imagina- 
tion has guided Christian art in depict- 
ing our Saviour ; but to attribute any 
present known likeness to apostolic times is not 
justified by historical research. 
It is altogether in accord with the divine plan 
l that this new head of the human race should be an 
ideal man physically, as He was spiritually. Jesus 
was a perfectly formed specimen of His race, of 
robust constitution, vigorous strength, and manly 
dignity. That He was a carpenter and steadily 
worked at His trade was but an additional help 
to symmetry of form. And it was also consistent 
with intellectual development, for the doctors of the 
Jewish law learned trades and worked at them, and 
were thus self-supporting and independent. Manual 
labor during some hours of the student's day has 
ever been of assistance in mental development. 

Furthermore, our Saviour chose the working- 
man's state of life for a special purpose. He did 
so in order to cure a fatal social disease. In all 
ages the leisured classes have looked upon artisans 
and laborers as an inferior caste by the very nature 
of their occupations. This is one of the most obsti- 
nate of human delusions. Jesus would have us know 
that as between the two conditions, poverty and afflu- 
ence, He preferred the former. Toil is not degrading 
but elevating — bodily toil and its attendant hardships. 
It was in pursuance of His Father's decree — that man 
shall eat his bread in the sweat of his face — that Jesus 
chose to be a working-man. God's general providence 
became His Divine Son's special choice, as a reflect- 



THE HIDDEN LIFE A T NAZARETH. 1 1 5 

ing mind could easily see would be the case. The 
typical Man is the common man. No exceptional 
state of honor or ease could content Jesus. The 
noble virtues of entire resignation to the Divine Will, 
of patience in enduring adversity, fortitude in resisting 
despondency — are not all these best gained in that 
condition of straitened means inseparable from 
the workman's humble condition ? Sordidness 
of soul is not a trait of the common man ; but yJ \J 
he is marked by generosity, unselfishness, in- 
dependence of character, self-restraint ; and 
towards God, his privilege is the full realiza- 
tion of what it means to live upon the Heavenly 
Father's daily bounty. 

Jesus would prove by His choice of the carpenter's 
shop that neither the gifts of fortune nor high social 
position are needed for human welfare, or even for 
exerting a powerful influence upon one's fellow-men. 

Hence the example of Jesus the working-man has 
had a most powerful influence upon human society. 
It has made the lot of the toiler an enviable one for 
all religious men and women, and Jesus has 
drawn into that condition by free choice the 
noblest spirits among those of His servants 
who were born to riches. 

And so during eighteen years the God- 
man worked at ordinary country carpenter- 
ing. What would not one give if he could 
have a bench or a table which Jesus made 
—or a hatchet or plane which He had used ? But 
such relics are unknown. God willed not only to bless 
the lowly station of life by His Son's choice of it, but 
also to conceal His Son under the disguise of a simple 
mechanic. 

He "was obedient " to Joseph and Mary. He was 






ANCIENT PLOUGH, YOKES, BHABES, AND GOAJ^ 




YOKE FOR OXEN. 



n6 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

a model son. Filial affection overflowed His soul, not 
only for His mother, but for Joseph, her chaste spouse, 
His own loving foster-father. Joseph must have died 
not many years after the Finding in the Temple ; other- 
wise we should hear of him in attendance upon the pub- 
lic ministry of his Son. Hence, at our Lord's second 
public appearance as a teacher in the synagogue at 
Nazareth, His family designation is of His mother, 
as well as of His father : "Is not this the carpenter, 
the son of Mary ? " Even His cousins, James, Joseph, 
Jude, and Simon, sons of Cleophas and of Mary's sister, 
were unaware of the supernatural character of Jesus. 
But His mother was brimming over with knowledge and 
love of His true self. In her alone, after Joseph's 
death, did He find a soul worthy of His most sacred 
confidence. With her He spoke of the prophets and 
patriarchs, and with her He sometimes spoke even of 
the dreaded and yet longed-for "business of the 
Father." 

Thus Mary's soul became the rich casket in which 
Jesus first placed the pearl of great price, His Gospel. 
St. Luke tells us also that He gained the favor of all 
men — gentle, kind, generous, it is easy to understand 
why. He was lovable by the openness of His nature 
and the elevation of His sentiments. For even if He 
must conceal His divine qualities, He could not hide 
His human ones. Jesus was the nearest friend of every 
living soul, and He must show it. 

Furthermore, we know that Jesus must have been 
very susceptible to the lessons of nature. The earth 
and the sun and the heavenly bodies, the trees and the 
growing grain, the very beasts, all spoke a language to 
Him but vaguely guessed at by the poets. How all na- 
ture prayed when Jesus prayed on the green hill-top ! 
How the whispering wind and the genial sunshine, and 



THE HIDDEN LIFE A T NAZARETH. 



117 



the musical notes of the birds, the happy voices of the 
little children, the murmur of the brooks, the bright 
tints of the flowers, the welcome rain — how all were elo- 
quent of God to the heart of Jesus Christ at Nazareth ! 
And this we see in aftertimes when He uses all this in 
illustrating His teaching. Little dared He venture to 
exercise His power over men's minds ; yet He was the 
faithful friend, He was the kind fellow- workman, He 
was the pleasant companion of a restful hour, He was 
the soothing consoler of an afflicted household — all this 
He was as true man, no less certainly than 
He was Mary's true Son. 

If nature was His open book of God, and 
if life with men was His daily duty, so was 
God's written word His constant meditation. 
Our joy in reading the divine pages of the 
Old Testament is greatly enhanced by the 
certainty that Jesus read them daily with the 
tenderest piety. Who has ever read the Old 
Testament as Jesus read it ? He was a per- 
fect Hebrew in race and in religion, and the 
Hebrew blood and faith were inseparably 
joined to the Book. In every hero and every 
great happening He saw Himself prefigured. 
But Jesus took no sides in the miserable divisions of 
His people. He scorned the puerile subtilty of the 
Pharisees ; His great soul detested their formalism. 
He spurned the polished materialism of the Sadducees. 
The fatalistic errors of the Kssenes, as well as their 
false asceticism, He condemned. He was a perfect 
Israelite in being simply Himself. His soul was fed 
by God through every medium of divine life — reason, 
revelation, nature, communion with men and women, 
especially Mary and Joseph, the natural teachers of 
His youth, having always the ineffable privilege of 




n8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



immediate 
which He 
entirely human : 
and moral force 



intercourse with the 
was personall3 T one. 



divine nature with 
As a man He was 
but wholly original was His mental 
When He began to teach, all could 




understand, none could quite master His doctrine — it 
fed at the same time that it stimulated the soul's ap- 
petite for truth. He spoke the thoughts of eternity 
in the words of time. 

And thus it was that Jesus waited at His home, 
neither hurried nor sluggish, but just where and when 
and how the Father willed. Such a being as Jesus can 
afford to wait, for He knows that when He begins He 
shall succeed. He w T ho patiently waits God's hour is, 
w r hen that hour strikes, as strong as God. 

There can be no doubt that it is to the mother of 
Jesus that we owe the simple and entrancing story of the 
birth and early days of the Saviour. She had laid up 
in her heart everything that happened, and gave it w r ith 
those sweet touches of guileless nature, those loving 
accents of unfathomed maternal love, which make the 
narrative in Luke and Matthew the unique poem of 
Heaven's wooing and winning the hearts of men. In 
after years, when Mary had shared with the Apostles 
the gift of the Holy Ghost, they must many a time have 
gathered about her and urged her to repeat again and 
again the divine narrative of the infancy of Jesus, and 
His hidden life at Nazareth. These accounts were dis- 
tinctly remembered and carefully noted, and afterwards 
embodied in the Gospels. 



BOOK II. 



The Public Life of Jesus. 



1I9-IM 




PALISADES OF THE JORDAN. 



THE PUBLIC LIFE OF JESUS. 



CHAPTER I. 

JOHN THE BAPTIST PREPARES THE WAY FOR JESUS. 

Matt. iii. i-io ; Mark i. 2-6 ; Luke Hi. 1-14. 

The moral revolution which John the Baptist 
wrought among the Jewish people is a fact of history, 
and is witnessed no less by Josephus than by the Evan- 
gelists. It was as sudden and dramatic as it was salu- 
tary. He emerged from the desert of Judea alone and 
unheralded, but as he began to preach penance for sin 
on the banks of the Jordan his words shook men's 
hearts like the voice of thunder — " a voice crying in the 
wilderness, make straight the way of the L,ord." Mul- 
titudes nocked to hear him. His personality was in 
itself a powerful sermon. His clothing was a scanty 
garment of camel's hair fastened by a leathern girdle. 
His hair and beard had never been cut, his head and 
feet always bare. He was about thirty years old, but 
the life of a hermit, in silence and prayer and bodily 

MI „ - 



122 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




" Do penance : for the 
kingdom of heaven is at 
hand " (Matt. iii. 2). 



austerity, had prepared every faculty for his 
great and peculiar vocation from on high, name- 
ly, the ambassadorship of the terrible Jehovah. 
The Holy Spirit had sent him out to the people to 
prepare their souls for their Messias, and he did 
so with an austere eloquence — with the piercing 
tones, pale face, and blazing eyes of a hermit trans- 
formed into a preacher of penance. 

John appeared during the high-priesthood of. An- 
nas and Caiphas, about the seven hundred and 
eightieth year of the City of Rome, during the reign 
of the Emperor Tiberius Caesar. 

The Precursor was a very different being from 
Him of whom he was to be the herald, and before 
whom he will bend in lowly adoration. Yet he is 
perfect in his own kind— severe, threatening, over- 
powering messenger of the jealous God of the 
Hebrews. Before the vices of the crowd he is fear- 
less ; no less so in resisting the pretensions of the 
Pharisees ; undaunted in reproving the crimes of the 
monarch from whose cruel hands he receives the 
crown of martyrdom. 

It was not in the Temple, therefore, that John was 
fitted for his mission, but from very childhood he had 
lived in the -' deserts of Judea." This is a frightful re- 
gion of desolate hills and ravines on the west shore of 
the Dead Sea, whose only life is an occasional stunted 
tree, a few birds of prey and savage beasts — the entire 
region visibly marked with the curse of God, for it 
shared the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrha. In 
solitary caves or in the shadow of rocks dwelt John, 
breaking his long fasts with wild honey or locusts, 
drawing in with every breath the sadness of man's re- 
volt against God, every object he saw preaching to him 
the terrors of the divine wrath. This is the man called 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



123 



by Isaias an angel — angel indeed of 
heavenly warning : "I will send My 
angel before thy face to prepare thy 
way." Every day of his solitary 
life he grew more and more like 
Klias, the terrible prophet of old, 
till, as we shall see, the people who 
heard him thought he was that 
great ambassador of the Most High 
returned again to Israel. But he 
was more than prophet and more 
than Klias, for his singular glory is 
in the words of Jesus, that " greater 
man than John the Baptist never 
was born of woman." He was the 
best of the old people of God, in 
whom lineage, the fact of birth and 
the quality of blood— ' ' born of wo- 
man " — was the outer mark of elec- 
tion. He had the inward graces 
symbolized by Hebrew legitimacy 
in higher degree than any of his 
ancestors : fear of God, zeal and 
courage against vice and error, 
mastery of the animal instincts. 
Yet those born not of woman nor of 
blood nor of any race but of God 
are all superior to John in kind 
though by no means in degree of 
sanctification. "The least in the 
Kingdom of Heaven is greater than 
he " who was the greatest in earth's 
highest kingdom — the people of 
Israel. He was, furthermore, the 
best exponent of the natural virtues 



THE PREACHING OF JOHN. 

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of 
Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being gov- 
ernor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch 
of Galilee, and Philip his brother being 
tetrarch of Iturea, and the country of 
Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abi- 
lina, under the high-priests Annas and 
Caiphas : the word of the Lord came to 
John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. 
[And he] came preaching in the desert of 
Judea ; and saying : Do penance : for 
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And 
he came into all the country about the Jor- 
dan, preaching the baptism of penance, for 
the remission of sins, as it is written in the 
book of the words of Isaias the prophet : 
Behold, I send my Angel before thy face, 
who shall prepare thy way before thee. 
A voice of one crying in the wilderness : 
Prepare ye the way of the Lord : make 
his paths straight. Every valley shall be 
filled, and every mountain and hill shall be 
brought low ; and the crooked shall be 
made straight, and the rough ways plain. 
And all flesh shall see the salvation of 
God. And John himself had his garment 
of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about 
his loins ; and his food was locusts and 
wild honey. Then went out to him Jeru- 
salem and all Judea, and all the country 
about Jordan : And they were baptized by 
him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 
And seeing many of the Pharisees and 
Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said 
to them : Ye brood of vipers, who hath 
showed you to flee from the wrath to 
come ? Bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy 
of penance : And think not to say within 
yourselves : We have Abraham for our 
father : for I tell you, that God is able of 
these stones to raise up children to Abra- 
ham. For now the axe is laid to the 
root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, 
that yieldeth not good fruit, shall be cut 
down, and cast into the fire. And the 
people asked him, saying : What then 
shall we do ? And he answering said to 
them : He that hath two coats, let him give 
to him that hath none ; and he that hath 
meat, let him do in like manner. And the 
publicans also came to be baptized, and 
said to him : Master, what shall we do ? 
But he said to them : Do nothing more 
than that which is appointed you. And 
the soldiers also asked him, saying : And 
what shall we do ? And he said to them : 
Do violence to no man ; neither calumniate 
any man ; and be content with your pay. 



124 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

of man. In him temperance, fidelity to truth, cour- 
age, self-control, fortitude were elevated to their high- 
est natural development by the best instrumentality, 
the law of Moses. 

John's baptism was but a holy symbol of repent- 
ance, not a channel of grace as the rite afterwards 
became in the baptism of Jesus and His Holy Spirit 
after Pentecost. But John was thoroughgoing. He 
demanded interior sorrow for sin and earnest purpose 
of amendment, shown and proved by confession and 
good works. 

The entire people were deeply moved by his words 
and crowded the banks of the Jordan, near where 
it falls into the Dead Sea, the point at which the 
terrible preacher had taken his stand. All came: 
hardened publicans and zealots for the law jostled 
one another in his auditory ; learned and simple were 
there together in humble equality. They made sincere 
confession before baptism, answering thereby an instinc- 
tive craving of the true penitent, who, after acknowl- 
edging guilt in the inner sanctuary, longs to unveil 
it outwardly to a faithful friend and suffer him to ex- 
tract the venom and apply a healing ointment. As 
the baptism of John foreshadowed the initial sacra- 
ment of the new religion, so did the true confession 
of his penitents foreshadow the new sacrament of 
penance, which secures pardon by the sinner's humble 
and sorrowful avowal of his transgressions. 

When John raised his reproving voice and struck 
the Jewish race-pride, he struck home. Seed of Abra- 
ham : that was to many Jews the cure-all of every 
vice. But John witnessed to the people of Israel 
that the God of Jew and Gentile could turn stones 
into sons of Abraham. It was a mighty proclamation 
of the new and spiritual lineage, that of Sons of God. 



JOHN THE BAPTIST. 125 

This was a bitter truth to many of the Pharisees who 
ranked racial descent as an indispensable requisite of 
divine favor. These broke with him at once. Others 
of the Scribes and elders, more discerning, lingered on, 
and he taught them the first lesson of the coming life : 
" He that hath two coats, let him give to him that 
hath none ; and he that hath meat, let him do in 
like manner." Love is now become, even in this 
first step of the new way, the whole law and the 
prophets. Then came the publicans, the tax-gather- 
ers ; and to these he commanded absolute honesty — a 
virtue in them as high as charity in others. To the 
I soldiers, Jews in the Roman legions, he forbade the 
p military vices of extravagance, gambling, bullying, 
! and blackmailing. Such are the outlines of John's 
! terrible preaching, by means of which vast throngs 
I of the people were successively moved to true repent- 
ance for their sins and made ready for the Messias. 
It was like the purification of the Hebrews in passing 
through the Red Sea and in hearing the messages of 
God by the mouth of Moses in the wilderness prepara- 
tory to entering the land of promise. 



."S^y^ ^fr^^wr*-" 







"Where the Jordan falls into the Dead Sea." 



126 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 
CHAPTER II. 



Luke iii, 15-22 ; 



" Prepare ye the way of the Lord, 
make straight his paths " (Matt. iii. 3). 



THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. — "THOU ART MY BELOVED 

SON ! " 
Matt, iii. 11-iy ; Mark i. 7-1 1 
Joh?i i. 15-18. 
But it was the announcement of the coming of 
the Messias that was the most exciting theme of 
John's preaching. The Jews were essentially a Mes- 
sianic people, their hopes all centering on the pro- 
phecies which promised them a saviour. Every senti- 
ment of religion vibrated like the deepest chords of a 
harp when this powerful preacher proclaimed that 
the Messias was even now at hand. Even carnal 
motives, love of race and of power, thirst 
for revenge upon the pagan tyrants, 
mingled with spiritual motives and 
muddied their clear waters. No won- 
der, therefore, that the Baptist's au- 
thority rose higher with every discourse, 
and that at length it was whispered 
that he was himself the Christ. At 
the first breathing of this suspicion 
John exclaimed : "I indeed baptize 
you with water : but One mightier than 
I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes 
I am not worthy to unloose : He shall 
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and 
with fire." The Baptist's function was 
thus to be the Forerunner, zealously to 
prepare men's hearts. The Christ alone 
could possess them, breathe into them 
the Holy Spirit, set them afire with 
divine love. Do penance ! Prepare the 
way of the I*ord ! he cried out in tones 




THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 



127 



of thunder : Down with every mountain of pride, fill 
up every dark valley of sin. All flesh shall see the sal- 
vation of God. He is coming to His threshing floor ; 
His fan is in His hand ; the chaff shall be cast into 
the fire, the wheat shall be gathered into His barn. 
These words already indicated the divinity of the 
Christ, and the preaching of John was in fulfilment of 
Isaias : "Lift up thy voice with strength, thou that 
bringest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift it up, fear not. 
Say to the cities of Juda, Behold your God cometh" 
(Is. xl. 9) . God is about to appear. A great prophet 
announces Him at the mouth of the Jordan near 
Bethany. 

Travellers crossing the river stopped and heard 
him and carried his fame everywhere. His peni- 
tents returned home and spread 
the great news ; all the race of 
Israel is promptly informed of 
it. The multitudes continue to 
come and to go, full of deep 
sorrow for their sins, and no 
less full of expectation of the 
Christ. The very locality is 
eloquent of the holy destiny of 
the people now about to be 
realized. There are the twelve 
stones still standing, which tell 
of the tribes passing dry shod 
through the river; there Elias 
and Kliseus had been miracu- 
lously ferried over the stream ; 
jand there the former prophet 
Shad been carried up to heaven 
(in a chariot of fire : from ad- 
jacent Mount Nebo had Moses the river jordan. 




128 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



hailed the Promised Land and sunk to his rest. And 
now on the same spot the Jewish nation gathered 
about a prophet who had received from on high the 
mission to announce the Messias. 

"He who sent me," said John, "to baptize with 
water said to me : He upon whom thou shalt see 
the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, He 
it is that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." Of yore 
the ancient covenant had been pro- 
claimed in the wilderness, and it was 
God's will that in the wilderness 
the new dispensation should begin, 
proclaimed by the last and greatest 
of the prophets. 

But where was the Messias ? Why 



THE BAPTISM OF JESUS IN THE JORDAN. 

And as the people was of opinion, and 
all were thinking in their hearts of John, 
that perhaps he might be the Christ, John 
answered, saying unto all : I indeed baptize 
you with water unto penance, but he that 
shall come after me is mightier than I, 
whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, — the 
latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to 
stoop down and loose. I have baptized you 
with water, but he shall baptize you with 
the Holy Ghost and with fire Whose fan 
is in his hand, and he will thoroughly 
cleanse his floor, and gather his wheat into 
the barn, but the chaff he will burn with 
unquenchable fire. And many other things 
exhorting, did he preach to the people. 
Then cometh Jesus, from Nazareth of 
Galilee, to the Jordan unto John, to be 
baptized by him. But John stayed him, 
saying : I ought to be baptized by thee, 
and comest thou to me ? And Jesus an- 
swering, said to him : Suffer it to be so 
now, for so it becometh us to fulfil all 
justice. Then he suffered him. And Jesus 
being baptized, forthwith came out of the 
water ; and lo ! the heavens were opened 
to him ; and he saw the spirit of God de- 
scending in a bodily shape as a dove, and 
remaining upon him. And there came a 
voice from Heaven : Thou art my beloved 
Son ; in thee I am well pleased. John 
beareth witness of him, and crieth out, 
saying : This was he of whom I spoke : 
He that shall come after me, is preferred 
before me : because he was before me. 
And of his fulness we all have received, 
and grace for grace. For the law was 
given by Moses, grace and truth came by 
Christ. No man hath seen God at 
any time : the only-begotten Son who is in 
the bosom of the Father, he hath declared 
him. 



did He not 



appear 



For six 



months, as is commonly thought, 
John had waited in vain, his pierc- 
ing eye eagerly searching the faces 
and souls of his hearers to discover 
the Messias. The people also were 
eagerly looking out for Him. John 
meanwmile dwelt at length upon the 
qualities of the Messias, exhorting 
his hearers to be ready for Him, and 
for His winnowing of the w T hole 
people of Israel like the w 7 innowing 
of a threshing floor. 

But at last the hour has come. 
Jesus arrives at the banks of the 
Jordan from the mountains of Gali- 
lee and asks to be baptized. He 
makes no distinction between Him- 
self and the others, His neighbors 
and the companions of His pilgrim- 



THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 



age. He has so far done nothing at home to dis- 
tinguish Himself from the rest of men. Doubtless, a 
few of His acquaintances had remarked a deeper wis- 
dom in His religious conversation, or a brighter lus- 
tre in His blameless life. But, they may have thought, 
shall the Saviour come out of Nazareth, and be a 
carpenter ? 

It is an interesting question as to how, at last, 
John learned the identity of Jesus. The hermit life 
of the Precursor had begun in his very childhood, 
and its seclusion must have been absolute. Previous 
to the coming of Jesus to the Jordan, John "knew 
Him not." Elizabeth and Zachary had not been per- 
mitted to disclose Mary's secret to their son; and 
soon they departed to their eternal 
rest. It was enough for John that 
he was filled with the most vivid 
sentiment of expectation ; it is re- 
vealed to him that the Messias is 
in Israel and that He may at any 
moment appear, and that it shall 
be his own high office to recognize 
and to proclaim Him. His personal 
knowledge of Jesus, however, pre- 
ceded that which came by the de- 
scent of the Holy Ghost, as is plain 
from St. Matthew's account. This 
may be accounted for by the fact 
that John's penitents came "con- 
fessing their sins." Jesus must go 
through the form of this. Sins of His own He had 
none, but He would bewail to the Baptist the sins of 
the people whom He loved, and of all humanity; 
lament their sad fate, speak of the approaching reign 
of the Messias. The soul of Jesus in familiar commu- 




i 3 o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

nication with that of John would soon reveal all — 
Jesus of Nazareth is the Messias Himself! 

O what a joy was this ! O how pure was that 
soul of Jesus ! How it mirrored to the ecstatic gaze 
of the austere hermit of the desert the beauty of heaven 
itself, how its voice was musical with the harmonies 
of divine love ! What eager zeal for men's welfare 
was there, what generous self-devotion ! Who can 
tell what the Saviour spoke of to this His first disciple 
after Mary His mother and Joseph His foster-father : 
His plans, His ideas of rnercy, of repentance, His 
flashing lights of inspiration revealing the depths 
of profound mysteries, His perfect humanity and His 
entire divinity ; and when He had ended pouring 
these golden treasures of religious wisdom and love 
into the rapt soul of John, Jesus bowed down before 
him and begged to be baptized. But John stayed 
Him and fell at Jesus' feet. " I ought to be baptized 
by Thee, and comest Thou to me?" As if to say: 
Can I raise myself above Thee, Thou Eternal Son 
of God ? can I give Thee any gift — I, who have every- 
thing to receive of Thee ? ' ' And Jesus answering 
said to him : Suffer it to be so now. For thus it be- 
cometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered 
Him." 

We are permitted to ask why Jesus did not baptize 
John, according to his earnest request. The answer 
is manifold : the new rites of religion were not yet 
instituted ; it was God's will that the last prophet and 
hero of the old law should be entirely of it and not 
at all of the new, so that the synagogue might 
be buried with honor ; it was the plan of Jesus to 
keep secret His own purpose of instituting a new sys- 
tem of external ordinances. Therefore, John is to 
lead the Hebrew race to the door of the Church of 



THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 131 

Christ, glance in with longing eyes and die, as Mpses 
did at the threshold of the land of promise. He is 
sanctified by faith in Him who is to come, not by the 
baptism of the Saviour and His other sacraments. 

But why did Jesus take John's baptism, nay, insist 
upon it ? Because all the righteousness of the ancient 
dispensation He would exhaust and fulfil, and seal 
with every approval, before He begins to supplant it. 
Jesus begins as a child of the old covenant, " made," 
says St. Paul, " under the law " a member of the Jew- 
ish Church which John now publicly represents. If 
He saw fit to be born a Jew, circumcised, presented 
in the Temple, He shall likewise gladly join in this holy 
movement of penance among the people of Israel and 
fulfil its sign of righteousness in John's baptism. Be- 
sides this, if John were set by God to point out the 
Messias, the Messias would reciprocate by openly ap- 
proving His Precursor's office in accepting the bap- 
tism of penance. The Heavenly Father in turn ap- 
proves this high purpose of the Son. It is as Jesus 
comes forth from the river, all dripping with its sacred 
waters, that the Holy Spirit descends and the Divine 
Voice speaks the words: "This is My Son." 

Thus Jesus solemnly begins His work as Redeemer, 
by attaching it and inseparably linking it to the work 
of His Father, the Hebrew's Jehovah. Farewell now 
to the peaceful life in quiet Nazareth. His public 
career is begun, a life of hard struggle, utter self- 
devotedness, total failure and perfect triumph. 

St. Luke tells us how the voice from Heaven spoke. 
He says that Jesus prayed after His baptism, and as 
His soul poured itself out in filial love to His Father, 
the people meantime standing by and John looking on, 
suddenly the heavens opened and the Holy Ghost de- 
scended upon Him in bodily shape like a dove, and a 



1 32 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

voice came from heaven which said : ■ ' Thou art My 
beloved Son ; in Thee I am well pleased." Jesus and 
John were alone privileged to witness this prodigy, to 
which the latter afterwards gave public evidence. Its 
significance is nothing less than the open manifestation 
of the Most Holy Trinity. The Father and Son, co- 
equal in every infinite attribute of the God-head, are 
here shown in union by the apparition of the Third Per- 
son, the connecting link of the triune God. And this is 
not making Jesus God, but the recognition of Him as 
already God. The voice does not say, ''Behold Him 
who now becomes My beloved Son"; but, "This is 
My beloved Son. ' ' And the figure of the dove is chosen 
to represent that Divine Spirit which is all sweetness, 
purity, and loving kindness. 

And now, with the loud and resistless word of a 
divine ambassador, John proclaims Jesus of Nazareth as 
the Messias. 




THE PREPARA TION IN THE DESERT. 133 

CHAPTER III. 

THK PREPARATION IN THE DESKRT. 

Matt. iv. i—il ; Mark i. 12 ■, ij ; Luke iv. 1—13. 

" And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned 
from the Jordan, and immediately the Spirit drove Him 
out into the desert. And He was in the desert forty 
days and forty nights, and was tempted by Satan : and 
He was with beasts. And He ate nothing in those 
days; and when they were ended He was hungry." 
Gratitude filled the soul of Jesus to overflowing for the 
approval from on high which had been given Him at 
the baptism of John ; but also He felt a dread at the 
task which was now upon Him, and longed for solitary 
communion with His Father. Therefore, the Spirit of 
God led Him into the desert and gave Him there a 
favorable place as well to commune with Heaven as to 
prepare for the ordeal of His mission. It was probably 
the desolate region, broken, barren, and uninhabited, 
lying between Jericho and Jerusalem. 

Near the ruins of Jericho is a high rocky eminence, 
and many have thought that here is the place from 
which Satan showed Jesus ' ' all the kingdoms of the 
world. ' ' Among the many caverns near the base of this 
mountain now dwell devout hermits, who in austerity 
and silence commemorate the Saviour's forty days' fast. 
He gave Himself up to the great thoughts which stirred 
His soul, wholly ignoring the wants of lower nature, 
nourishment of the body, shelter from the weather, or 
security from the attacks of wild beasts. Jesus, thus 
secluded in a wilderness and in denial of every sensible 
joy, wandered here and there absorbed in the contem- 
plation of His Father's love for the fallen race of man. 
From Adam down through all his posterity to the latest 



134 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



generation, the Saviour now lived in spirit the life of 
man, rejoiced in his virtue, assumed the guilt of his 
vices. How sadly He thought of Adam. It was by 
pride and gluttony that the first Adam, in a garden of 
every delight, had ruined us ; it is by humility and ab- 
stinence that the second Adam makes ready to save us. 
Adam and all sinners after him hearken to the voice of 
the flesh, to the stirrings of self-love and the allure- 
ments of Satan ; Jesus is deaf to every voice which does 
not harmonize with the voice of God. The guidance 
of the Holy Spirit is His one rule of conduct. 

When God's voice sounds in a saint's most interior 
soul, it casts him into an ecstasy — life with God absorbs 

his thoughts so totally that 
he loses taste and touch and 
sight and hearing in the per- 
fect blending of his spirit 
with the Deity. And even 
when restored to conscious- 
ness, he can but utter broken 
cries of joy, of love, of long- 
ing, of thanksgiving ; and 
then follows a quiet of soul 
beyond words to describe. 
The perfection of this state 
was what Jesus experienced 
in the desert. For forty 
days He enjoyed intimate 
communion with the Father 
and the Spirit. 

To His own high associa- 
tion with the Father and the 
Spirit He must elevate the 
souls of men, a union natural 
to Him and of original right, 




THE PREPARA TION IN THE DESERT. 



135 



supernatural to them and wholly the boon of His love. 
He must rule men's wills by His divine love till they 
obey His Father with the instinct of the Spirit. He 
must penetrate the minds of men with His own 
thoughts, transform them with His own aspirations. 

But to this glorious vision succeeds the dreadful 
view of the cost. The terrible prophets of old come 
one by one into the inner court of His spirit, and the 
words of God which they speak fall upon Him like 
the hammer breaking the rock in pieces. From an 
ecstasy of joy He passes to a stupor of woe. He sees 
all the difficulties that await Him : indifference, sus- 
picion, intrigues, cowardice, treason. Rooming up 
in the background He sees the gloomy figure of His 
Cross. For forty days did Jesus alternate thus be- 
tween heaven and hell, between holy ecstasy and holy 
fear. The number forty is a favorite one with God. 
Forty days and forty nights the earth was washed by 
the deluge ; for forty years the Israelites did penance 
in the desert ; Moses and Elias and the Ninevites 
fasted forty days. And now the King of prophets and 
the Head of the chosen people again sanctifies the 
sacred number. 

When the soul is in perfect mastery it suspends 
the body's functions, the spiritual life absorbs the 
material life, and hence many have thought that our 
Saviour's fast was total abstinence from food and 
drink. But some have supposed that Jesus fasted like 
John the Baptist, and although without bread or meat 
to eat, yet did not refuse the wild roots and herbs and 
honey of the wilderness. At any rate, at the end of 
forty days the utterly exhausted body reclaimed its 
rights. Hunger, lassitude, extreme weakness com- 
pelled the Messias to provide Himself some food. And 
at this moment Satan began his temptation. He knew 




VULTURES IN THE 
DESERT. 



136 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Jesus to have been but recently proclaimed the Son of 
God : he will test the meaning of this mysterious 
title.* 

The kingdom of Christ thus begins in the storm of 
battle. The enemy must be met, grappled with, 
totally overthrown and put to flight by Jesus Christ. 
This battle shall be renewed from time to time, always 
with the same result — Christ triumphant. From hence- 
forth the evil spirit will be met with continually in 
our Saviour's mission. He had been far more secret 
in his work in the previous ages, but terribly active 
and successful ; for after his victory in Eden his em- 
pire had gradually become almost universal, — " all the 
gods of the Gentiles are devils." He is now to be 
completely conquered. 

Let us ask how far the devil could actually tempt 

* Sceptics would have us regard demons or devils as creatures of a 
credulous fancy. But all human history reveals the hierarchy of evil beings 
extending from the invisible world into our own. Nothing in science is 
better proved than that there are spirits in communication with men, — good 
spirits and evil spirits. The kingdom of wickedness embraces portions of 
both the visible and invisible world, and is divided only by an imaginary 
line, and of this kingdom Satan and his spirits are the rulers. Apart from 
the plain evidence of the ancient scriptures, the teaching of Christ is con- 
clusive evidence from revelation. Satan has his kingdom (Matt. xii. 25), 
his emissaries (Matt. xxv. 41), against whom Christ sets up His standard 
and makes relentless and successful war. Satan is the promoter of all evil, 
the father of lies and of liars, the instigator of murder (John viii. 44), ever 
assaulting the Church (Matt. xvi. 19), the foaming enemy of the Apostles, 
among whom Peter is the mainstay (Luke xxii. 31). 

As to the power of the demons, reason no less than revelation limits it 
strictly to unwittingly helping God to carry out His plans. The demons are 
workers of evil in ways which help the working of good. They hurt Job 
only to make his patience heroic ; they ensnare Peter only to deepen his 
loyalty. Careful introspection reveals in each soul the meddling of an alien 
power seeking to obtain control. The Evil One's superiority of nature 
gives him a certain access to our minds, as it also gives him control of the 
material elements. It is this two-fold phenomenon, a mysterious mastery 
of the material elements, as well as of our imagination, making for evil, 
that explains why mankind has always believed in demons ; it was universal 
experience that established the universal belief in diabolism. 



THE PREPARA TION IN THE DESERT. 137 

our Saviour. Theologians answer that whenever Jesus 
willed it, His Divinity withdrew into the higher part 
of His soul and there passed within the veil. There 
remained to Jesus His human soul, His fulness of 
faith and hope and love as a man, without the im- 
mediate communication of the infinite power of God. 
But His human nature is ever of one person with His 
divine nature, which is watchful of the struggles and 
makes sure of the triumph of the human nature. The 
pendulum swings to the right and the left, but is never 
out of control of the supereminent force of gravity: 
the movement guides the clock and the stability 
guarantees its regularity. Thus did Jesus merit the 
glory of resisting temptation, even though the presence 
of the Divine Word assured His triumph. Seeming to 
lose the form of God and to have only that of His hu- 
manity, yet His humanity was so well guarded by 
the divinity that it was absolutely incapable of sin. 
The difference between Him and us in temptation is 
thus very great. To Him temptation was an influence 
wholly external ; it found not the least help in His 
heart. To us, it becomes at once interior, having a 
spy in our native weakness to aid it from within. 
Even when we remain innocent, temptation stirs the 
sediment, it finds some sinful memories to help it, 
some fleeting evil tendencies, and the waters which 
seemed but now clear as crystal become dark and 
troubled. In Jesus there was no evil memory or 
tendency, no sediment of evil possibility, no scars of 
former disgraceful wounds. Yet He is our model: 
1 ' For we have not a high-priest who cannot have 
compassion on our infirmities : but one tempted in all 
things like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews iv. 
15). He has a sympathetic knowledge of what it is 
to fall into temptation. As a physician studies not 



138 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

only in books but at the dissecting table and in hospi- 
tals, so did Jesus learn what sin is, and so He was 
tempted for our sakes. 

Satan addresses Jesus as Son of God, for he had 
heard the voice from heaven call Him so. But how 
did the demon understand that title? Did it mean 
only that Jesus was beloved like a son ? Or did he 
suspect that He was the Word Incarnate, God as 
Jehovah is God ? Now, many have thought that 
Satan had been cast out of heaven because he was 
too proud to accept and believe this very mystery 
of God-Man that Jesus is, when it was prophetically 
revealed to the angels ; nor would he easily believe 
it now. No doubt, therefore, the evil one was mys- 
tified, and he will put this strange being to the 
test. 

Did he appear to Jesus in human form ; or did he 
speak to Him from the air ; or address Him spirit 
to spirit? In this we are not left wholly to conjecture, 
as the sacred narrative seems plainly to show us Satan 
in human or some other tangible or visible form. 
We may be certain, too, that it was by an actual 
and bodily movement that Jesus was carried to the 
Temple's topmost pinnacle, and afterwards to some 
high mountain whence the fiend could boast of his 
ownership of the entire pagan world. Yet, after all, 
the triple battle of Jesus was fought and won in the 
invisible but most real arena of spirit life. 




THE TEMPTATION. 139 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE TEMPTATION. 
Matt. iv. i-ii ; Mark i. 12, 73 ; Luke iv. 1-13. 

NTIL, now, since the fall of Adam, Satan — 
he now felt it plainly — had never known so 
momentous a conflict. That great victory 
seemed to have given him his present plan 
of battle. Sensual indulgence, presump- 
tion on the divine goodness, lust of power : 
these were the sins of Adam. Can this 
new Adam be allured to commit the same? A won- 
der-worker — thought the devil — this Messias surely 
must be ; I will help Him to spoil His mission by a 
vain show of miracles. Not by miracles of suffering 
and of love shall He rule men, but by those of pride 
and lordly majesty, of gluttony, presumption, ambi- 
tion ; and so He shall rule men under my supremacy. 
Jesus arms Himself with His Father's sword of 
resistance, the word of God. His enemy's assaults 
are thrown back instantly in his face. Not a moment's 
thought is given to them. Adam and Eve ruined 
everything by complacent dallying with the tempter ; 
Jesus saves all by immediate rejection. As a plumb- 
line in a mason's hand strikes against a bulge in 
a defective wall, so does the truth of God disclose 
a lie. Jesus has but one rule for heart and hand and 
tongue ; it is God's law, whose words He sternly 
utters, yea, even with irony, against the demon. 

Fainting with hunger after forty days of fasting, 
He is addressed by Satan: "If Thou be the Son of 
God, command that these stones be made bread. But 
He answered and said : It is written, not by bread 
alone doth man live, but by every word that pro- 
ceedeth from the mouth of God" (Deut. viii. 3). Al- 



140 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



ways His enemies will look for a sign, wicked and 
adulterous as they are : as Satan their ringleader at 
this beginning of His struggle, so his chief lieutenants 
under the cross, who will shout: " If Thou be the 
Son of God, come down from the cross!" Our 
Saviour refuses to separate Himself 
from our common human lot. The 
first word of His answer places Je- 
sus as a man among men, gladly 
content with God's will as His meat 
and drink. "Man liveth not by 
bread alone." Vainly did Satan 
call on the Son of God to use the 
divine power in the interests of 
sensual indulgence. Personal inter- 
est is not the aim of the Messias, 
and, at all events, Jehovah had fed 
Israel in the wilderness with bread 
from heaven. And does not any 
heroic soul forget to eat corporal 
food when fed by the word of God ? 
Abandonment to the fatherly care 
of Divine Providence, total aban- 
donment, is the characteristic trait 
of the true Son of God, whether it 
be Jesus the Only-Begotten, or any 
one of His brethren by adoption. 
Jesus is found impregnable on the 
side of sensual appetite, and of con- 
fidence in His Father. 

Satan attempts another side, that of excessive con- 
fidence in God. For it often happens that one who 
knows that he is tenderly loved is vile enough to 
abuse his privilege by presumption. And as the 
desert was a fit place for temptation to self-indulgence, 



THE STRUGGLE IN THE DESERT. 

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, 
returned from the Jordan, and immediately 
the Spirit drove him out into the desert. 
And he was in the desert forty days and 
forty nights, and was tempted by Satan ; 
and he was with beasts. And he ate nothing 
in those days ; and when they were ended, 
he was hungry. And the tempter coming 
said to him: If thou be the Son of God, 
command that these stones be made bread. 
Who answered and said : It is written, 
Not in bread alone doth man live, but in 
every word that proceedeth from the mouth 
of God. Then the devil took him up into the 
holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of 
the temple, and said to him : If thou be the 
Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is 
written : That he hath given his angels 
charge over thee, and in their hands shall 
they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash 
thy foot against a stone. Jesus said to him : 
It is written, again : Thou shalt not tempt 
the Lord thy God. Again the devil took him 
up into a very high mountain : and shewed 
him all the kingdoms of the world, and the 
glory of them, in a moment of time, and he 
said to him : To thee will I give all this 
power and the glory of them ; for to me 
they are delivered, and to whom I will I 
give them. If thou therefore wilt adore 
before me, all shall be thine. Then Jesus 
saith to him : Begone, Satan : for it is writ- 
ten : The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, 
and him only shalt thou serve. And all 
the temptation being ended, the devil de- 
parted from him for a time ; and behold 
angels came and ministered to him. 



THE TEMPTATION, 



141 



so the Holy City shall be the scene of a more spiritual 
trial. Instantly the demon wafts Jesus through the 
air and sets Him on a pinnacle of the Temple. 
Far below Him He sees the city teeming with a 
multitude of people. Satan whispers to Him, What 
a glorious thing to descend upon the wings of sup- 
porting angels — the entire city witnessing the miracle ! 
This would prove to all Israel that Thou art their long 
expected Messias. And as Jesus had used Scripture 
in His defence, the tempter tried it him- 
self in this second assault, and said to 
Him : " If Thou be the Son of God, cast 
Thyself down, for it is written : He hath 
given His angels charge over Thee, and 
in their hands shall they bear Thee up, 
lest perhaps Thou dash Thy foot against 
a stone " (Psalm xc. n, 12). It is notice- 
able that he suppresses a part of the text, 
which promises the angelic aid to those 
who abide in their proper place — "to keep 
thee in all thy ways" — faithful, that is, 
to the ordinary will of God, which com- 
pliance with this amazing proposal cer- 
tainly would not be. 

The temptation was that the Messias 
should make a dazzling exhibition of 
miraculous power, and so by one splendid 
stroke overthrow all unbelief, suffering no 
delay, not consenting to be a subject of tedious dis- 
cussion. And why not ? Is it not better to conquer 
all opposition by the miraculous use of the divine 
power ? But Jesus reasoned otherwise. The miracle 
would be either a vainglorious display of power, or 
it would be a departure from the Father's will ; in 
either case an act of presumption. To back it up 




"And he showed Him all the 
kingdoms of the world, and the 
glory of them" (Matt. iv. 8). 



142 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




" The Lord thy God shalt 
thou adore, and Him only shalt 
thou serve " (Matt. iv. 10). 



by a Scripture text is but one instance of how the 
dangerous and novel ventures of fanatics in religious 
affairs may seem to be favored by detached passages 
of inspiration, whereas the whole teaching of God 
restores us to the safe ways of patient obedience. 
Therefore Jesus answered : ' ' It is written again , Thou 
shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Deut. vi. 16). 
This answer but increased Satan's mystification. 
Perhaps, thought the tempter, Jesus is not so power- 
ful a being after all. If He is a mere man, 
why not assail Him on a common side of 
human weakness — ambition ? ' ' The devil 
taketh Him up into an exceeding high moun- 
tain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of 
the world in a moment of time, and the glory 
of them ; and saith unto Him, to Thee will 
I give all this power, and the glory of them ; 
for to me they are delivered, and to whom 
I will I give them. If Thou therefore wilt 
fall down and adore me, all shall be Thine." 
This claim of world-wide empire was not so 
transparent a fraud as at first sight it seems, 
when we remember Satan's almost universal 
dominion over a world sunk in idolatry. Men and na- 
tions everywhere adored the demon under the names 
of their gods and goddesses. 

L,et us remember, too, that half a century before 
this date one man had conquered the world : Julius 
Coesar. Nor is devil-worship essentially different from 
types of idolatry common in our Saviour's time. But 
Jesus had come to overthrow Satan, and to do so all 
the more thoroughly because the demon in the shape 
of pagan deities was burlesquing the true and only 
God, and masquerading among the nations as the 
supreme being. 



THE TEMPTATION. 



143 



Jesus has come, not to continue this empire of 
lying and pretence or even to do good by utilizing 
its vile methods, but to ruin it totally. He will do 
so by adopting methods absolutely the reverse of the 
devil's malign activity ; nay, even the reverse of ordi- 
nary human means. At the expense of His own 
race's allegiance, Jesus will reject all human force in 
establishing His authority, all violence, all alliances 
with earthly powers. By patient suffering, by kindly 
persuasion, by the loveliness of truth, He shall obtain 
a spiritual empire worthy of His Father. It shall 
be a little seed that will grow into the great tree of 
a new order of life. And now, therefore, away with 
thee, Satan, an end to thy foul temptations! "Be- 
gone, Satan : for it is written, The Lord thy God shalt 
thou adore, and Him only shalt thou serve" (Deut. 
vi. 13). 

The tempter has fled. The dark shadows vanish 
from the clear mind of Jesus — false joys, 
false hopes, false glory cannot gain a 
foothold there. Let Satan launch against 
Him at a future day all the powers of 
earth and hell ; Jesus will accept the 
challenge and conquer by His cross. 
"Fear not," He will say to His trem- 
bling followers, "I have conquered the 
world." 

The victory of Jesus over Satan in 
the desert is the first of an unbroken 
series, and it is our victory. Since that 
victory sensual pleasure, fleeting glory, 
the itch for money, so often used at 
Satan's instigation, have never had the 
power that they had in ancient days, when 
his reign was over a race of slaves. 




"Then the devil left Him 
(Matt. iv. 11). 



144 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



Jesus lias emancipated us. Since His victory, poverty, 
self-denial, humility, a gentle and yielding kindness, 
a meek and wise reliance on God's fatherly provi- 
dence, have entered the field of human endeavor 
and have won the best victories. From that time, 
also, has Jesus given His angels greater power over 
us. These heavenly spirits, who came and congratu- 
lated our Saviour upon His triumph, are always with 
us, aiding us in our conflict, rejoicing in heaven at 
our victory. 




AN OASIS IN THE DESERT. 



THE BAPTIST AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS. 145 

CHAPTER V. 

JOHN THE BAPTIST AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS. — 
" BEHOI/D THE UMB OP GOD ! " 

John i. 19-34. 

Meantime, and while Jesus was battling with the 
enemy in the desert, the Jewish priests and the 
leaders of the Pharisees were taking counsel together 
in Jerusalem about the Baptist. " And this is the 
testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem 
priests and I,evites to him." 

The ever-watchful eyes of these religious rulers 
did not fail to perceive the powerful agitation of 
the people under John's preaching ; nor did they at 
first view it unfavorably. They hoped that it might 
be the beginning of a great national agitation in Israel 
in accordance with their own schemes. Therefore, 
they sent priests and Invites to the Baptist, con- 
veying a message carefully guarded in its terms and 
so framed as to learn all and admit nothing ; the 
answer would enable them to judge whether they 
would push the people forward into John's arms or 
hold them back. "Who art thou?" demanded the 
embassy. John knew well that he was rumored to 
be the Messias. Instantly " he confessed, and did 
not deny; and he confessed: I am not the Christ." 
Vainglory had not a moment's control of his motives 
or his conduct. But they insisted: "What then? 
Art thou KHas? " Now, the prophet Malachias had 
foretold him as KHas (iv. 5), and Jesus afterwards 
said of him: "This is Blias that was to come." 
But John knew that he was all this only in a 
spiritual sense, and permitted no such delusion to 
enter his mind as that he was actually the great pro- 



1 46 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

phet of Israel returned in person. He was the bearer 
of the thoughts, the power, the soul's earnestness of 
Elias. Lest the messengers should misunderstand him, 
he ignored his claim to even this singular dignity. 
11 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? 
And he saith, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And 
he answered : No." The eager souls of the people 
dreamed of the appearance of Enoch, or of Josue, 
and especially of Jeremias, their favorite prophet in this 
era of their degradation. No : these imaginings of the 
people had no fulfilment in him. 

But they must have something more than mere 
negations to bring back to the Sanhedrin. "They 
said therefore unto him: Who art thou, that we may 
give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest 
thou of thyself? And he said : I am the voice of 
one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way 
of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias." What an 
example of humility ! In total self-forgetfulness this 
mighty angel of humanity falls back for a title upon 
his office of messenger of God ; nay, upon the very 
physical instrument of it, the voice, the word, the 
cry : but it was a voice foretold of yore, and it 
was a cry which in turn announced the Saviour of 
men. Then came the scrutinizing question of the 
rigorists. " And they that were sent were of the 
Pharisees. And they asked him and said unto him, 
Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not the Christ, 
nor Elias, nor the prophet?" The answer fully re- 
vealed both the humility of the Precursor and his 
relation to the Christ, as well as his supernatural 
knowledge of His immediate coming. "I baptize 
with water-: but there hath stood One in the midst 
of you whom you know not. The same is He that 
shall come after me, who is preferred before me : 




> : 'i°- : 



{ — 



',.■■• 



■•'■ 



THE BAPTIST AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS. 147 

the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. 
These things were done in Bethania beyond the 
Jordan, where John was baptizing." 

The startling announcement that the Messias was 
at hand placed the Sanhedrin in an attitude of ex- 
pectation. Let Him who shall claim this dignity be 
manifested, they must have thought, and then we 
shall know what course to pursue both towards Him 
and His precursor. Hence when in after times Jesus 
was rejected by the religious rulers, so was John 
rejected, and denounced to Herod, if not, as is sus- 
pected, even delivered up by them. Meantime they 
did not interfere with John ; all that he said and did 
was favorable to their ultimate object of a popular 
uprising, the overthrow of the stranger's domination 
and the independence of Israel as a theocratic and 
racial state. John had meantime kept enshrined the 
remembrance of that beautiful form, dripping with 
the crystal waters of the Jordan, illumined with 
heavenly holiness, and authenticated by the radiant 
dove and the thrilling voice from on high. But he 
knew that the great prerogative of his office was yet 
to be exercised. That was the formal and public 
proclamation of the Messias with all due solemnity. 
Therefore he looked for the return of Jesus from the 
desert, to which he knew He had retired for His 
preparation. Jesus on His part knew that it was 
by the Precursor, the gate-keeper of Israel, He should 
be properly introduced to His mission. 

To John was also granted the knowledge that 
the mission of the Messias was to be peaceful. This 
pacific character of the Saviour was contrary to popu- 
lar expectation. Israel was to be saved not by a 
warrior-king but by a patient sufferer. It was not 
a universal conqueror, but a universal victim of atone- 



1 48 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



ment for all human sinfulness, that John was appointed 
to announce. The last of the Hebrews, John was 
set free from Hebrew ambition and narrowness. He 
welcomed Jesus as the Saviour of the whole world : 
"John saw Jesus coming to him, and he said : Behold 
the Lamb of God ! Behold Him who taketh away 
the sin of the world ! " Now, although the people 
looked for no lamb-like man of God, but for a mighty 
monarch of God, yet they were by no means borne 
out in this by their Scriptures. Isaias (liii. 7) pro- 
phesies of the Messias that He 
should be led like a lamb, mute 
and helpless, to the slaughter. 

Jesus is the realization of this 
symbolical utterance of Isaias, His 
resignation absolute, His gentleness 
perfect ; He is the Lamb of God, 
the personal fulfilment of the high- 
est types of sacrifice in the old dis- 
pensation. He is the sacrificial 
lamb, He is prefigured in the lamb 
sacrificed at the end of the Egyp- 
tian servitude — the lamb whose 
blood upon the door-posts of every Hebrew dwelling 
had secured the safe Passover of the destroying angel. 
This had been the divinely chosen sign of God's friend- 
ship, a symbol of reconciliation so universal in Israel 
that in every household, at the festival of the Passover, 
a lamb was sacrificed and eaten by the family for the 
cleansing of sins and the renewal of heavenly protec- 
tion. This, then, the holiest as well as the earliest of 
the prophetic sacrifices of the Mosaic religion, the Pre- 
cursor salutes as fulfilled in Jesus. He is the sin-of- 
fering which it foreshadowed. The followers of Jesus 
have ever continued this use of the symbol, applying 



"BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD ! " 

The next day John saw Jesus coming to 
him, and he saith : Behold the lamb of 
God, behold him who taketh away the sin 
of the world. This is he of whom I said : 
After me there cometh a man, who is pre- 
ferred before me : because he was before 
me. And I knew him not, but that he may 
be made manifest in Israel, therefore am I 
come baptizing with water And John gave 
testimony, saying : I saw the Spirit coming 
down as a dove from heaven, and he re- 
mained upon him. And I knew him not : 
but he, who sent me to baptize with water, 
said to me : He upon whom thou shalt see 
the Spirit descending and remaining upon 
him, he it is that baptizeth with the Holy 
Ghost. And I saw ; and I gave testimony, 
that this is the Son of God. 



THE BAPTIST AND THE CHIEF PRIESTS. 149 

it to the redemption of the whole world. " Purge out, 
therefore," says St. Paul to the Corinthians, " the old 
leaven, that ye may be a new lump. For Christ our 
Passover is sacrificed for us" (I. Cor. v. 7). 

But this is not all. Primarily Jesus is the Incarnate 
Word of God. He is the only begotten Son of God, 
and John strongly insists on that : ' ' This is He of 
whom Isaias said : After me there cometh a man who 
is preferred before me, because He was before me." 
John points out Jesus to his vast auditory, not simply 
as a great personage : Jesus had actually preceded 
John, as He had the most venerable of the Hebrew 
patriarchs. " Before Abraham was made I am," Jesus 
shall afterwards say. The Baptist had in mind the 
words of the prophet Malachias (iii. 1) : "Behold I 
send My Messenger, and He shall prepare the way 
before My face." Now, He who makes His own 
creature a messenger to announce Him, exists before- 
hand. Sin or no sin, man is united to God, his 
nature elevated to company with the Deity in an 
eternal and personal and substantial union in the per- 
son of Jesus. 

It is thus that John fulfils his office of herald of 
the Expected of Nations by pointing to Jesus of Naza- 
reth. He does not rely upon family tradition, tables 
of descent, or any other human proofs, but upon divine 
revelation, immediate and undeniable. By my own 
investigations or any human means, he says, I knew 
Him not ; but ( ' I saw the Spirit coming down from 
heaven as a dove, and He remained upon Him. And 
I knew Him not : but He that sent me to baptize with 
water said to me : He upon whom thou shalt see the 
Spirit descending and remaining on Him, He it is 
that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and 
I gave testimony that this is the Son of God." God 



150 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

had revealed the sign to John, and John had seen 
it fulfilled with his own eyes, and then he proclaimed 
it to Israel. 

Thus had God brought together again the Messias 
and His Precursor, whose first meeting had taken 
place at the visit of Mary to Elizabeth. Separation, 
total and distant, had intervened, John living in the 
desert from childhood and Jesus at Nazareth, until, 
as far as we know for the first time, the sovereign 
will of God brought them together for the opening 
of the mission of the Messias. 

John also teaches that Jesus has the office, es- 
sentially divine, of baptizing souls with the Holy 
Ghost — pouring out the divine Spirit upon all flesh 
(Joel ii. 28). In this sense, again, we know the mean- 
ing of John when he calls Jesus Son of God, not 
as holy men had been so named of yore, or as 
angels had been, but by an exclusive filiation, by the 
most living relationship, Jesus having the nature it- 
self of Jehovah, of which the Baptist had proclaimed 
the primeval action in Him. Thus John the Baptist 
has fulfilled his mission most faithfully, unflinchingly 
faced the incredulity of the leaders and instructed 
the ignorance of the people. What will they do ? 
He has baptized them unto penance ; will they accept 
the Baptism of the Spirit unto eternal life about to 
be offered by Jesus ? 





JESUS CHOOSES DISCIPLES. 151 

CHAPTER VI. 

JESUS CHOOSES DISCIPLES. 

John i. 35-51. 

/^ORGANIZATION of a Church was al- 
ways our Saviour's purpose, no less 
than teaching and redeeming the 
world. Both doctrine and atonement 
were to be dispensed by Him through 
a society, a public institution with 
its duly appointed officers. Naturally, therefore, and 
before His first public instruction, our Saviour begins 
to gather His Church's officers. Before He gathers 
His followers He chooses their leaders. He begins 
to organize His Church before He begins to give forth 
His doctrine. Naturally also, it was from John's 
tried and trusted disciples that He would begin to 
select His own. 

It was for this reason that He tarried near by the 
Baptist's ever-changing assemblage of penitents. In 
a few days He again appeared among John's hearers. 
" Behold the L,amb of God ! " exclaimed the Baptist, 
pointing and gazing at Him. Two disciples of John 
were by these words impelled towards Jesus, for it 
seemed to them that John had bidden them go. But 
they dared not address the Messias, and Jesus, seeing 
their shyness, kindly said to them : ' ' What seek you ? 
They said unto Him : Rabbi, where dwellest Thou? " 
One was named Andrew, the other was John, son of 
Zebedee, who, hiding his name with characteristic 
modesty, relates this occurrence, so momentous for 
his future destiny. Rabbi meant teacher ; these two 
saluted Jesus, therefore, as their Master in holy 
wisdom, and gave Him their never- faltering allegi- 



5- 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



ance as the organizer of a new discipleship, higher 
than that of John the Baptist ; this they did solely 
upon the guarantee of their former master. "Come 
and see " where I live, answered 
Jesus. They thus became His dis- 
ciples, though later on we shall find 
Him renewing their vocation, for as 
yet He does not attach them so 
closely to Himself as to make them 
part of His very household. But 
He takes them to His home— if 
some friendly shelter in a shep- 
herd's tent, or perhaps some hum- 
ble wayside inn, could be so named. 
Afterwards — who can imagine 
after what joyful converse with 
Jesus ? — Andrew departed from 
them, seeking and finding his bro- 
ther Simon, doubtless also num- 
bered among John's disciples. " We 
have found the Messias ! " he ex- 
claimed. Not only the Baptist's 
testimony but the disciple's own 
personal trial of it was now in evi- 
dence : Eureka ! Andrew uttered 
the word with a nobler ecstasy than 
Archimedes or Columbus. As Si- 
mon, Andrew's brother, came up to 
Jesus, the Master beheld the one 
whom His Father in heaven had 
chosen as the head of His religion. 
and He saluted him accordingly. 
He gave him a new T name : " Thou 
art Simon, the son of Jona ; thou 
shalt be called Cephas, which is 



" FOLLOW ME ! ' 

The next day again John stood, and 
two of his disciples. And beholding 
Jesus walking-, he saith : Behold the lamb 
of God. And the two disciples heard him 
speak, and they followed Jesus. And 
Jesus turning, and seeing them following 
him, said to them: What seek you ? Who 
said to them : Rabbi (which is to say, 
being interpreted, Master), where dwell- 
est thou ? He saith to them : Come and 
see. They came, and saw where he abode, 
and they stayed with him that day : now it 
was about the tenth hour. And Andrew 
the brother of Simon Peter was one of 
the two who had heard of John, and fol- 
lowed him. He findeth first his brother 
Simon, and saith to him : We have found 
the Messias, which is, being interpreted, 
the Christ. And he brought him to 
Jesus. And Jesus looking upon him, 
said : Thou art Simon the son of Jona ; 
thou shalt be called Cephas, which is in- 
terpreted Peter. On the following day he 
would go forth into Galilee, and he findeth 
Philip. And Jesus saith to him : Follow 
me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the 
city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth 
Nathanael, and saith to him: We have 
found him of whom Moses in the law, 
and the prophets did write, Jesus the son 
of Joseph of Nazareth. And Nathanael 
said to him : Can any thing of good come 
from Nazareth ? Philip saith to him : 
Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael 
coming to him, and he saith of him : Be- 
hold an Israelite indeed, in whom there 
is no guile. Nathanael saith to him : 
Whence knowest thou me ? Jesus answer- 
ed and said to him : Before that Philip 
called thee, when thou wast under the fig- 
tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered 
him, and said : Rabbi, thou art the Son of 
God, thou art the king of Israel. Jesus 
answered, and said to him : Because I 
said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig- 
tree, thou believest : greater things than 
these shalt thou see. And he saith to 
him : Amen, amen I say to you, you shall 
see the heaven opened, and the angels of 
God ascending and descending upon the 
son of man. 



JESUS CHOOSES DISCIPLES. 



153 



by interpretation Peter, a rock." They did not as yet 
know the prophetic meaning of this divine word, nor 
how at a future day Jesus would set Peter as the 
foundation stone of His Church. By this change of 
name Jesus takes possession of this disciple in a special 
ownership. So it was in the olden time when God 
chose Abraham and Israel. 

The little party was soon on the journey homeward 
— -to Galilee, that is ; to which prov- 
ince they all belonged. There Jesus 
purposed completing His preparations 
for promulgating the Glad Tidings. 
But soon, and while journeying on- 
wards, He secured another disciple. 
" He findeth Philip," a fisherman of 
Lake Genesareth, a pilgrim, we may 
be sure, homeward bound from the 
Baptist's preaching. "Follow Me," 
said Jesus, taking him into His com- 
pany to share the instruction imparted 
while they plodded on. Follow Me ! 
There is majesty in this little phrase. 
What a change from the retiring man- 
ner of a village mechanic. 

Philip was too unselfish to enjoy his 
favor unknown to a certain dear friend 
of his, Nathanael. This was a guile- 
less soul, worthy, if any man could be, 
of the honor of the discipleship. " We 
Him of whom Moses spoke in the law," 
to him, " and of whom the prophets spoke, Jesus 
the son of Joseph of Nazareth." Philip may have 
thought that Nathanael, being a Galilean, would favor 
Jesus as a fellow-countryman. But to Nathanael the 
name of Nazareth was a stumbling-block. " Can any 




have found 
says Philip 



i 5 4 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

good thing come out of Nazareth ? " He thus quoted 
to him the traditional evil report of that town. The 
Saviour, Nathanael meant to say, must be from Beth- 
lehem, nor could he tolerate the thought that an ob- 
scure man of Galilee should be the Messias. ' ' Come 
and see," answers Philip, appealing simply from words 
to actual inspection ; and an upright soul will accept 
the test. 

The two Galileans had been resting under a fig- 
tree. There had Nathanael, without knowing whence 
it came, felt the inward touch of Jesus preparing the 
way for His message by Philip — one of those sweet 
and holy moments which divine grace consecrates to 
its high purposes. They hurried on to overtake the 
Messias. "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and 
He saith to him : Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom 
there is no guile." But Nathanael seemed as little 
moved by this praise as by the zeal of Philip. Hence 
he answered coldly : ' ' Whence knowest Thou me ? 
Jesus answered and said unto him : Before Philip 
called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw 
thee." To the rude honesty of the fisherman Jesus 
opposed a knowledge of some hidden thought of 
Nathanael while under the fig-tree. He was amazed. 
He that can see into the depths of my soul, thought 
the honest fisherman, and read its secrets is my 
master; what He claims I grant. "Rabbi," cried 
Nathanael, "Thou art the Son of God, Thou art 
the King of Israel." Jesus praises Nathanael for his 
faith, nor does He reprove him because he was slow 
and cautious in coming to it. A divine light has en- 
tered that soul, it need only watch and guard it to 
be yet further illumined, even with heavenly visions. 
Jesus answered: "Because I said unto thee, I saw 
thee under the fig-tree, believest thou ? Greater things 



JESUS CHOOSES DISCIPLES. 155 

than these shalt thou see." And here for the first 
time He uses the word Amen, a term of powerful em- 
phasis, meaning most certainly — it is absolutely certain. 
He finishes by addressing all the newly chosen dis- 
ciples. " Amen, Amen I say to you, you shall see 
heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and 
descending upon the Son of Man." 

The title " Son of Man," thus used by our Sav- 
iour, and in connection with the ministry of God's 
angels, shows how the Incarnation has made the 
earth a favored rendezvous of heaven's blessed spirits. 
Wherever Jesus is, there are the angels ; some are 
round about Him, others mounting on high to the 
Father's throne, and others, again, descending to com- 
mune with Jesus and to wait upon Him ; they show 
the perfect union between earth and 
heaven by the mediation of the Lord 
of the angels, the Man Christ. 

Son of Man He is, as well as 
Son of God. He is the head of our 
race, the Adam of a new humanity ; 
yet how humble a term it is for the 
Uncreated Word to assume. With 
it, as with a lowly though beautiful 
disguise, He clothes His Divinity, 
and brings us all into that brother- V 
hood which unites the Saviour to 
us, a brother indeed and co-heir in 
all communion of God's goods, 
spiritual and temporal. 




JESUS BY THE SEA OF GALILEE. 




i 56 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE WEDDING AT CANA. 

John ii. 1- 11. 

'HE little caravan journeyed onward into 
Galilee ; it was our Saviour's purpose to 
complete the number of His Apostles be- 
fore beginning His first public discourses ; 
but here a woman interrupts and alters 
the regular order of the Master's plans — 
His Mother. Arriving at Nazareth, they 
learned that at Cana, a little city to the eastward 
(now called Kefr-Kenna) , a wedding-feast was to take 
place, and that Mary had already gone there, and 
Jesus found an invitation awaiting Him, which He 
decided to accept. This was natural. Nathanael was 
of Cana, his companions must go that way to reach 
their homes on the shore of Lake Genesareth, and so 
all started along with Jesus, who would arrange for 
their Invitation to the wedding-feast. This could 
easily be done, for the persons married were cer- 
tainly intimate friends, and perhaps relatives, of our 
Saviour. Mar}- had gone beforehand ; her nephews, 
sons of Cleophas, were also there ; perhaps it was one 
of them who was to be married, and indeed this 
seems likely. The interest Maty took in the festivities, 
and the assurance with which she gave orders, in- 
dicate that she felt quite at home there. 

It is quite certain that our Saviour was actuated 
only by a kindly spirit of complaisance in going to 
the Cana wedding-feast, though the intervention of 
Mary caused Him to ''manifest His glory" there. 
We cannot imagine John the Baptist sitting down to 
a wedding-feast, and perhaps the newly chosen dis- 



THE WEDDING A T CAN A. 



157 



ciples, all novices of the Baptist, were somewhat 
scandalized by His familiar condescension to human 
joys. But Jesus would save sinners in every way, by 
mingling with men's joys and sanctifying them no 
less than by shaking their bones with the terrors of 
His Father's wrath. It was, nevertheless, a somewhat 
startling beginning of a penitential life, such as must 
be the Christian's, for its Master to sit down at a wed- 
ding-feast and miraculously contribute to the good 
cheer of the guests. But penance is not, after all, 
entirely inconsistent with well-ordered enjoyment. 

The third day after leaving the Jordan — and it must 
have been at the evening hour — our Saviour and His 
party arrived at Cana, having but one league to travel 
after leaving Nazareth. The town was probably like 
what it is now, seated 
on a hill-side, the houses 
surrounded with green 
and blooming hedges, 
and about the public 
well a grove of olive- 
trees, pomegranates, and 
fig-trees. In the East 
a wedding-feast is often 
a matter of several days' 
family rejoicing, and it 
may have been that our 
Saviour and His disci- 
ples came in towards 
the close of the festivi- 
ties at Cana — most wel- 
come guests, a friend 
of the family suddenly 
become a Rabbi, ac- 
companied by His own 




After photo's 



CANA IN GALILEE — VIEW FROM THE WEST. 



158 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




AT THE WEDDIXG-FEAST 



disciples. They in turn had 

tell of John's preaching, especially of his [ 

testimony to Jesus as the promised Saviour. 

But while the company was absorbed in \ 
these amazing themes the wine began to fail; 
six new guests helped to consume it. Xow, 
who would first notice this ? The men - 
would never think of it ; among the women : 
Mary, overjoyed though she was with the 
news of John's witness to our Saviour which ■ 
engaged them all, was still the least sur- ■ 
prised at it or absorbed by it. She was 
freer than any other to observe the embarrassment of 
the hosts. 

Mary therefore went to Jesus, drew Him aside and 

, secretly whispered : ' ' They have no 

wine." It was but the bare men- 
tion of the awkward predicament 
of the hosts, yet it disguised a most 
earnest prayer : Mary demanded a 
miracle. Xothing more clearly in- 
dicates both her full knowledge of 
Jesus' divine power, and the con- 
sciousness of her own influence over 
Him. But Jesus felt that, if He 
could not refuse her, He ought 
nevertheless to protest against this 
premature display of miraculous 
powers. He answered coldly : 
"Woman, what is it to Me and to 
thee? My hour is not yet come." 
We cannot deny that the tone of 
this answer and its wording ma}' 
have pained M ary. The term 



THE BEGIXXIXG OF MIRACLES. 

And the third day there was a marriage 
in Cana of Galilee : and the mother of 
Jesus was there. And Jesus also was 
invited, and his disciples, to the marriage. 
And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus 
saith to him : They have no wine. And 
Jesus saith to her : Woman, what is it to 
me and to thee ? my hour is not yet 
come. His mother saith to the waiters : 
Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye. 
Now there were set there six water-pots 
of stone, according to the manner of the 
purifying of the Jews, containing two or 
three measures apiece. Jesus saith to 
them : Fill the water-pots with water. 
And they filled them up to the brim. 
And Jesus saith to them : Draw out now, 
and carry to the chief steward of the 
feast. And they carried it. And when 
the chief steward had tasted the water 
made wine, and knew not whence it was, 
but the waiters knew who had drawn 
the water ; the chief steward calleth the 
bridegroom, and saith to him : Even- man 
at first setteth forth good wine, and when 
men have well drank, then that which is 
worse. But thou hast kept the good wine 
until now. This beginning of miracles 
did Jesus in Cana of Galilee : and mani- 
fested his glory, and his disciples believed 
in him. 



11 Woman," however, indicated in 



THE WEDDING A T CANA. 



159 




itself no chiding, for in the language used it meant 
L,ady or Madam. 

Mary's confidence was not at all shaken. We 
read only the words of Jesus in dead print. She saw 
her Son's face, she heard His gentle voice, she read 
His heart. Without answering a syllable she quickly 
went to the servants, and said: "Whatsoever He 
shall say to you," motioning towards her Son, "that 
do ye." Now, right at hand were six large water- 
pots for use in the Jewish purifications. Jesus had water.pot of stone. 
followed Mary when she went to the waiters, and 
He said to them : ' ' Fill the water-pots with water ; 
and they filled them to the brim," — so ready were 
they to do His bidding. He meant to show a royal 
generosity ; He and His followers were six in number, 
and six large vessels of wine would be a worthy 
recompense for their host's hospitality. Nor can 
we fancy any danger of excess in drinking, for 
the presence of Jesus and the miraculous charac- 
ter of His gift would guard safely against it. 
The miracle was instantly manifest : 
the water had turned into wine. It 
was indeed a wonderful thing to the 
assembled company, but what was 
it to Jesus but a quicker way of 
making wine out of water than His 
usual way of the vineyard, slowly 
distilling the moisture of the fruit- 
ful earth into the grapes, and these 
again by His chemistry of fermen- 
tation into wine? He who formed 
the natural laboratory of the vine- 
yard and who made all the chemi- 
cal laws for wine-making, shall He 
be limited to that only way of gaining 




i6o 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



His ends? " Draw out, now, and carry to the chief 
steward," said our Saviour. Then came the inquiry, 
Wheri did this new and delicious wine come from ? 
The waiters knew, and they told the miracle. They 
had poured water into the jars and drawn out wine — 
they were sure the jars were the same, they were 
sure of the water; and there was the wine, wine 
of the first quality and in immense quantities. To 
the expectant souls of the new disciples, Jesus was 
by this event revealed as a wonder-worker, His glory 
was manifested to them. It was the first of His 
miracles and it profoundly impressed the Saviour's 
followers, winning yet more securely their entire faith 
in Him. 




DINING TABLE USED IN THE EAST. 



JES17S CLEANSES THE TEMPLE. 1 61 

CHAPTER VIII. 

JESUS RETURNS TO JERUSALEM AND EXPELS THE 
TRAFFICKERS FROM THE TEMPLE. — HE PRO- 
CLAIMS HIS AUTHORITY. 

John U. 12—22. 

For the purpose of completing the apostolic band, 
as well as to secure a vantage-point for His teaching, 
Jesus led the way to L,ake Genesareth, on whose 
western shore, besides, was the dwelling-place of the 
newly chosen disciples. With Him and them went 
Mary, and doubtless other earnest and pious women, 
all forming His household, she bound to Him by 
every tie human and divine, the others by faith 
and devoted loyalty. Capharnaum became His place 
of sojourn, much frequented by the stream of traders 
to and from Damascus and the Mediterranean sea- 
ports, as well as by the soldiers and officials of the 
Roman government. The ''brethren" of Jesus also 
accompanied Him. We have elsewhere explained 
that this word means His cousins, the sons of 
Alpheus. 

Peter lived at Capharnaum, and there, probably in 
the house of the wife's mother of the Apostle, Jesus 
took up His abode. But they tarried only a few 
days, soon departing for Jerusalem, with the intention, 
however, of returning to Galilee. The feast of the 
Passover was near, and Jesus wished to test the dis- 
positions of the people of the capital, with its priestly 
hierarchy and its leading minds. Towards Jerusalem, 
therefore, He bent His steps. 

Many generations before, Malachias (iii. i, 3) had 
prophesied of this visit to Jerusalem: "Presently 
the L,ord, whom you seek, shall come. And who shall 



i6: 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



be able to abide the day of His com- 
ing, and who shall stand to see 
Him ? for He is like a cleansing fire, 
and He shall cleanse the sons of 
I,evi and shall purify them." No 
doubt Jesus at His former visits had 
been shocked and scandalized at the 
abuses in the Temple. But then 
His time had not come : He was a 
devout carpenter of Nazareth and 
nothing more. Now all is changed. 
The rights of God have in Him a 
public and official defender. 

It was that part of the Temple 
devoted to the use of Gentile con- 
verts to Judaism which was especial- 
ly profaned, a splendid and spacious 
colonnade outside the Jews' place 
of worship. A public market had 
been established in this sacred place. 
Under its lofty ceilings of polished 
cedar wood, upon its shining marble terraces, amid its 
double and triple rows of noble columns, money-chang- 
ers and hucksters and traders were continually traffick- 
ing, and even cattle-dealers had their bullocks, sheep, 
and goats penned up there for sale to those who would 
provide for sacrifice in the Temple — all with the ap- 
proval of the priestly guardians of the holy places, 
doubtless well paid for granting the sacrilegious li- 
cense. The holy place was filthy with this abomina- 
tion, profaned by the shouts of the traders and the 
bellowing of the beasts. It was especially hateful to 
the Lord as being a profanation of the Gentiles' court. 
Jesus gazed upon it all with indescribable indig- 



money-changer. nation. He suddenly snatched up some cords from 



JESUS CLEANSES THE TEMPLE. 

After this he went down to Capharnaum, 
he and his mother, and his brethren, and 
his disciples : and they remained there not 
many days. And the pasch of the Jews 
was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jeru- 
salem : And he found in the temple them 
that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and 
the changers of money sitting. And when 
he had made as it were a scourge of little 
cords, he drove them all out of the temple, 
the sheep also and the oxen, and the 
money of the changers he poured out, and 
the tables he overthrew. And to them 
that sold doves he said : Take these things 
hence, and make not the house of my 
Father a house of traffic. And his dis- 
ciples remembered that it was written : 
The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up. 
The Jews therefore answered, and said to 
him : What sign dost thou shew unto us, 
seeing thou dost these things. Jesus an- 
swered and said to them : Destroy this 
temple, and in three days I will raise it 
up. The Jews then said : Six and forty 
years was this temple in building, and wilt 
thou raise it up in three days ? But he 
spoke of the temple of his body. When 
therefore he was risen again from the dead, 
his disciples remembered that he had said 
this, and they believed the scripture, and 
the word that Jesus had said. 




JESUS PROCLAIMS HIS AUTHORITY. 



163 



the broken wrappings which strewed the pavement. 
His terrible voice pierced the uproar of beasts and 
men. He whipped the animals and their owners out 
of the Temple ; He cast upon the earth the money 
of the petty bankers and overturned their tables. In 
His holy anger He spared only those who sold doves, 
peddlers for the convenience of 
the poor. ' ' Take these things 
hence," he said sternly, "and 
make not My Father's house 
a house of traffic." 

Jesus was single-handed 
and alone in His battle for the 
cleanliness, spiritual and ma- 
terial, of the house of God, 
but He was easily the victor. 
Consciousness of His Fath- 
er's authority endowed Him 
with resistless force and awed 
his adversaries into utter 
subjection. His disciples 
were profoundly edified and 
no less amazed by His daring. 
They reminded each other of 
the Psalmist's prophecy of the 
Messias : ' ' The zeal of thy 
house hath eaten me up " 
(Ps. lxviii.) 

With others the case was 
different. Although the action of Jesus was deeply re- 
ligious and at first drew their admiration, yet they would 
not admit that it justified itself. Habituated to legal- 
ism, addicted to formality, they were not content with 
plain evidence of right acting. They wanted authen- 
tication and credentials. They must have something to 




* And the money of the changers He poured 
out, and the tables He overthrew." 



164 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

argue about. The tortuous mind dislikes that simple 
form of truth which is independent of argumentation. 
They said : M What sign dost Thou show unto us, 
seeing that Thou doest these things?" Jesus pur- 
posely answered in a way far above their compre- 
hension : He gave them, in prophecy, the highest 
credentials ever known to man, His resurrection from 
the dead ; although He veiled it under a claim of 
power over the material edifice whose holiness He 
had just vindicated. " Destroy this temple, and in 
three days I will raise it up." To build or to de- 
stroy or to raise from ruin that noblest temple of 
God, the human body, is a power infinitely greater 
than Solomon's or Herod's in constructing the dead 
architecture of a great building. Jesus can and will 
raise His own dead body to life : are they ready to 
discuss that claim of power? But what did these 
carnal-minded men know of the dignity of man's 
corporal frame, or of the indwelling of the Spirit of 
God in it? Moreover the gesture which Jesus must 
have made to explain His meaning, pointing to His 
own body when He said the words "this temple,"* 
escaped their notice in the rising tempest of their 
wrath. They thought His answer an empty boast — 
and moreover, they found on inquiry that He was 
no regular rabbi at all, but only a carpenter of Naza- 
reth. So they said with a sneer: "Forty years was 
this Temple in building, and wilt Thou rear it up in 
three days ? ' ' Jesus answered nothing — nearly always 
He answered nothing or very mysteriously to the 
cross-questionings of bad-hearted men. To the pure 
of heart His answers were ever quick, and if not al- 

* It is noteworthy that in St. Mark's account of our Saviour's trial 
before the chief priests the witnesses testified : " We heard Him say, I will 
destroy this \emple made with hands, and within three days I will build 
another not made with hands" 



JESUS PROCLAIMS HIS A UTHORITY. 165 

ways intelligible, their very obscurity shone with the 
bright light of truth, with present meaning or prophetic. 

But that mysterious three days' rebuilding of a 
mighty temple was never forgotten by friend or foe 
of Jesus. It was His first teaching in Jerusalem, and 
at the very end of His life we shall hear Him accused 
of blasphemy for it in the high court of the Jews ; 
it was railed in scorn against Him even under the 
Cross. His disciples, after having long cherished it 
as a test of faith in Him, shall be transfigured by 
its fulfilment into envoys of the divine love to man- 
kind. From another point of view, the prophecy shall 
be fulfilled by the effacement of the Temple's author- 
ity at the death of Christ, typified by the rending 
of the veil of its sanctuary from top to bottom, the 
cessation of its rites, the suppression of the Mosaic 
religious system, and the substitution of the King- 
dom of God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

We are left to our imagination if we ask what 
might have been the result of this public and fearless 
display of the love of Jesus for His Father's holy 
Temple if it had been received in a proper spirit by 
the Jewish priests and scribes. It might have been 
the beginning of a sincere and universal awakening 
in Israel, carrying John the Baptist's mission 
triumphantly everywhere among the people and their 
leaders, and gaining the adhesion of the whole nation 
to the Messias whom he had announced. The public 
life of Jesus would in that case have begun and 
ended very differently from the actual facts. Had 
the Jews known the difference between the casket 
and the necklace, between their race and their re- 
ligion, they would have received the Messias with 
open arms after His display of power in the cleansing 
of the Temple. . 




166 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER IX. 

JESUS BEGINS TO TEACH IN JERUSALEM. — THE IN- 
TERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS. 

John it. 23-35, and Hi. 1-2 1. 
t^nr^ HE Jewish priesthood, it was soon very evi- 
dent, was opposed to Jesus, even so far as to 
hinder His getting an audience. They would 
not allow Him the Temple or its precincts for 
His discourses if they could prevent it, and 
therefore He chose the more open places in the 
streets of the city and in the suburbs, talk- 
ing to the people in little groups or in 
great crowds. He worked miracles also, though St. 
John, who alone tells us of this sojourn of Jesus in 
Jerusalem, does not particularize them. "Now when 
He was at Jerusalem at the Pasch upon the festival 
day, many believed in His name, seeing His signs 
which He did." Amazement at His miracles was 
not always a sign of true faith in His Messias-ship. 
Although everybody began to talk about Him, and 
although numbers were sincerely won, Jesus knew 
men too well to trust to the general sentiment about 
Him. " But Jesus did not trust Himself unto them, 
for that He knew all men, and because He needed 
not that any should give testimony of man • for He 
knew what was in man." 

In fact, the history of religion proves that onfy a 
few are gifted quickly to discern true miracles and 
understand their significance ; while, on the other 
hand, the common mass of men are readily led astray 
by false wonders and often misinterpret the meaning of 
true ones. Hence, if it be asked how the enemies of 
Jesus could resist the evidence of His miracles, the 
answer is, that they had made up their minds be- 



JESUS BEGINS TO TEACH IN JERUSALEM. 167 

forehand that He was not the Christ. Have we 
not in our own day often heard men of science say 
that if they saw a miracle or many of them with their 
own eyes they would not believe them real? The 
capacities of faith are great, but so are the capacities 
of incredulity. 

Nicodemus was a man capable of true faith. He 
was a leading Pharisee, a doctor of the law, a well- 
known personage in Jerusalem. Had he been half 
as brave in professing the truth as he was anxious to 
learn it, his character would have been well balanced. 
He managed to gain access to a private meeting 
held by Jesus after nightfall, in which our Saviour 
discoursed freely with His chosen disciples ; John 
was one of these, and thus was probably an eye-wit- 
ness of this interview, of which he has given an 
account. " Rabbi," said Nicodemus, "we know that 
Thou art come a teacher from God, for no man can 
do these signs which Thou dost unless God be with 
him." He and his friends had honestly read the 
divine credentials of Jesus, His miracles. A miracle 
is the seal of heaven upon the message of a man of 
God : the Deity thereby assumes responsibility for 
His truthfulness. Here, then, Nicodemus recognized 
a Teacher whose authority transcended that of the 
official teaching of the Jews, for this strange Teacher 
from Galilee had God's glorious power of miracles — 
Nicodemus had seen Him display it openly and 
repeatedly. Furthermore, a timid soul admires a 
courageous one, and so Nicodemus was drawn to our 
Saviour by His bold attack on the venders in the 
Temple. 

We notice the air of authority on the part of 
Jesus in dealing with this first-fruit from the higher 
ranks of Judaism. He gives Nicodemus an instruction 



THE NEW BIRTH. 

And there was a man of the Pharisees 
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 
This man came to Jesus by night, and said 
to him : Rabbi, we know that thou art 
come a teacher from God; for no man can 
do these signs which thou dost, unless God 
be with him. Jesus answered, and said to 
him : Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a 
man be born again, he cannot see the 
kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith to 
him : How can a man be born when he 
is old ? can he enter a second time int<> his 
mother's womb, and be born again ? Jesus 
answered : Amen, amen i say to thee, un- 
less a man be born again of water and the 
Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the 
kingdom of God. That which is born of 
the flesh, is flesh : and that which is born 
of the Spirit, is spirit. Wonder not, that 
I said to thee, you must be born again. 
The Spirit breatheth where he will ; and 
thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest 
not whence he cometh and whither he 
goeth ; so is every one that is born of the 
Spirit. Nicodemus answered, and said to 
him : How can these things be done ? 
Jesus answered, and said to him : Art thou 
a master in Israel, and knowest not these 
things ? Amen, amen I say to thee, that 
we speak what we know, and we testify 
what we have seen, and you receive not our 
testimony. If I have spoken to you earth- 
ly things, and you believe not : how will 
you believe if I shall speak to you heavenly 
things ? And no man hath ascended into 
heaven, but he that descended from heaven, 
the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as 
Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, 
so must the Son of Man be lifted up : That 
whosoever believeth in him may not 
perish, but may have life everlasting. For 
God so loved the world, as to give his only 
begotten Son : that whosoever believeth in 
him, may not perish, but may have life 
everlasting. For God sent not his Son 
into the world, to judge the world, but 
that the world may be saved by him. He 
that believeth in him is not judged. But 
he that doth not believe, is already judged : 
because he believeth not in the name of 
the only begotten Son of God. And this 
is the judgment : because the light is come 
into the world, and men loved darkness 
rather than the light : for their works were 
evil. For every one that doth evil hateth 
the light, and cometh not to the light, that 
his works may not be reproved. But he 
that doth truth, cometh to the light, that 
his works may be made manifest because 
they are done in God. 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

for receiving baptism, as we would 
term the discourse. But it included 
the most sublime of all the doctrines 
of Christ, that of the new birth, the 
new life of our souls in the Holy 
Ghost. Every man, even this learn- 
ed and pious Hebrew teacher, shall 
be made over again, his powers of 
knowing and loving entering upon 
a new order of existence so radically 
different from the old as to be called 
another creation — as much higher 
than the first as the divine is higher 
than the human. Thoughts and 
loves natural only to God are now to 
be the privilege of the mind and 
heart of man in a more than natural 
condition. Jesus did not hesitate to 
express the change in fitting terms :. 
" Amen, Amen, I say to thee, unless 
a man be born again of water and 
of the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter 
into the kingdom of God." Though 
this sounded strangely to the ears 
of a strict Pharisee, one who had 
never doubted his high place in the 
only kingdom of God, that of Israel, 
and though he made objections, yet 
Jesus went on with His discourse 
and won him with His doctrine of 
the Spirit. 

The explanation which was grant- 
ed this timid disciple of Jesus was 
that the elements of inanimate nature 
should be lifted into union with the 

168 



THE INTERVIEW WITH NICODEMUS. 169 

highest life of the uncreated Divinity — water and spirit 
shall go together. Not a narrow race of men, as in the 
old dispensation, shall be the outward sign of divine 
favor, but a system of universal sacraments ; and 
these shall not merely be signs but channels of God's 
grace. The first of these is that of John the Baptist, 
elevated into new and strange supremacy. The gate 
of exit of the old and temporary Church is trans- 
formed into the splendid portal of the new and 
eternal Church. The difference between the Hebrew 
baptism of penance and Christ's baptism of the Spirit, 
is the difference between the Baptist and the Christ. 

The disciple of Christ is dead and buried with 
Him in Baptism, to rise again unto newness of 
life ; dead to the world and the flesh, he comes 
forth to begin to live over again. He is actually 
changed from his former self, stripped of his evil 
deeds and morally transformed, for baptism is not 
simply a sign of interior cleansing ; it is the adop- 
tion of sonship to God. Christian Baptism is 
thus more than repentance, more than deliverance 
from evil. The Spirit of God breathes a new life 
into the soul; new tendencies to positive virtue "Nicodemussaid: 'How 

, , ./-1 -.•• i-i-ii can these things be done ? ' " 

supplant the sinful conditions banished by re- 
pentance. Dead to sin, the soul lives to grace and is 
guided by the intimate whisper of the Holy Ghost. 
The water and the Spirit regenerate the soul, our 
Saviour insisting on the spiritual state of His followers 
as positively a new birth, a new act of creation. ' • That 
which is born of the flesh," He said, "is flesh, and 
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Wonder not 
that I said to thee, You must be born again. The Spirit 
breatheth where He will ; and thou hearest His voice, 
but thou knowest not whence He cometh and whither 
He goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit." 




i 7 o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

The soul of man cannot work its own new birth ; 
the breath of the Divine Spirit must sweep through it, 
like the fruitful south wind upon a garden. This 
breathing of the Spirit fecundates the soul with divine 
virtues. How it does this, we know not. But we 
feel it ; we are conscious of it in our heart's depths, 
and suddenly, or gradually and imperceptibly, we are 
transformed, we are born again. The fact is evident ; 
it reveals its own existence. We are made over 
again into new men. Nicodemus began to under- 
stand this amazing teaching, and he cried: "How 
can these things be?" — as if to imply, and I not 
know them ? Then said Jesus, with gentle irony : 
" Art thou a master in Israel and knowest not these 
things?" Meaning' that the petty disputes of the 
Pharisees about minute observances unfitted one to 
study a great question ; for here was a Pharisee, a 
teacher in Israel, totally ignorant of a doctrine which 
outranks all others in the school of divine truth. 

And now our Saviour, amid His newly gathered 
disciples, simple men, unlearned and lowly, identifies 
Himself with these docile spirits, and using the first 
person plural thereby affirms their unity with Him in 
His teaching office : " Amen, Amen I say to thee, -we 
speak what we know, and we testify what we have 
seen, and you receive not our testimony." The 
haughty teachers of the Hebrew people have found 
it hard to understand the truths of natural religion, 
which are verified by the unaided conscience ; how, 
then, shall they manage with the deep secrets of 
Heaven, which must be accepted on the direct testi- 
mony of the Teacher? ''If," said Jesus, "I have 
spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not, 
how will you believe if I speak to you heavenly 
things ? And no man hath ascended into heaven, 



THE INTER VIE W Wl TH N1C0DEM US. 171 

but He that hath descended from heaven, the Son 
of Man who is in heaven." Nicodemus was silenced. 
The words of Jesus overwhelmed him with wonder ; 
they were the words of a masterful teacher revealing 
His divine authority. 

Jesus ended by teaching him the Redemption : 
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, 
so must the Son of Man be lifted up : that whosoever 
believeth in Him shall not perish, but may have life 
everlasting." Here was affirmed the plainest analogy 
between the brazen serpent (Num. xxi. 9), set up 
in the desert by Moses, and Christ upon the Cross. 
The brazen serpent was an image of the living 
serpents whose fiery sting had killed the sinful 
Hebrews : their penitent and imploring glances at 
the image-serpent saved them. And so the Son of 
Man on the Cross is the image of guilty humanity, 
living, suffering, dying, in His all-sufficing atone- 
ment ; the sinner who looks with entire faith and 
with loving repentance upon Him shall be cleansed 
of the poison in His soul and restored to spiritual 
health. "For God so loved the world," exclaims 
Jesus, "as to give His only begotten Son, that who- 
soever believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
life everlasting." Thus it is the spontaneous love of 
the Father's heart for His wayward child, for poor hu- 
manity, that gave us our Saviour — not for the re- 
deeming of one nation, but for the entire human race 
has He given His own Son. 

And Jesus continued : ' ' For God sent not His Son 
into the world to judge the world, but that the world 
might be saved by Him." The Jews believed that 
the Messias would judge, condemn, and subjugate 
the nations of the earth. Jesus affirms the contrary : 
He will save all who will allow Him to do so ; those 



172 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

who will not allow Him are self -judged and self- 
condemned. "He that believeth in Him is not 
judged; but he that believeth not is condemned al- 
ready, because he hath not believed in the name of 
the only begotten Son of God." Men are divided into 
good and evil by their love and hatred of the truth 
of God. "This is the condemnation, that light is | 
come into the world, and men loved darkness rather 
than light, because their deeds were evil." These 
words consoled the upright heart of Nicodemus, who 
had sought the truth and who, without fully under- 
standing it, bowed dowm before it. 

The soul that hungers and thirsts after righteous- i 
ness and truth is worthy of praise from the lips of the 
Messias. But, as too often happens with virtuous I 
souls, the courage of Nicodemus was less than his 
sincerity ; he never dared openly proclaim his faith 
in Jesus. Later on he timidly pleaded for the Sav- 
iour's life before the Sanhedrin, but without insist- 
ing, and with an air of almost indifference. But we . 
shall see him on Calvary changed into a true dis- 
ciple, ashamed no longer of Jesus, but rather ashamed 
of his own former cowardice. During the Redeemer's 
life he had crept in secret to visit Him; now when 
He is dead he boldly and publicly claims Him from 
His enemies, sharing with Joseph of Arimathea the 
sorrowful honor of burying Him. 



FINAL WITNESS OF JOHN. 



173 



CHAPTER X. 

TEACHING IN THE COUNTRY-PEACES. — FINAE WIT- 
NESS OE JOHN. 
John Hi. 22-36. 

JESUS was fond of country people and loved to be 
with them and to teach them. To them 'He went out 
from Jerusalem, the Evangelist not stating how long 
a time He had remained in the city. ''After these 
things, Jesus and His disciples came into the land of 
Judea, and there He abode with them and baptized." 
This was only the baptism of John, which Jesus per- 
sonally did not administer but His 
disciples, as the Evangelist tells us 
further on: He would have His 
apostles co-operate with John in his 
preparation for the Messias. The 
Baptist, meanwhile, had left the 
banks of the Jordan. " And John 
also was baptizing in Enon near 
Salim, because there was much 
water there, and they [the people] 
came and were baptized. For John 
was not yet cast into prison." This 
change of place removed the Baptist 
from the reach of Herod, whose in- 
cest with his brother Philip's wife 
he had boldly reproved. 

And now Jesus came into the 
same neighborhood with John, not 
only to strengthen him in his strug- 
gle with the tyrant, but to draw from 
him a final witness of His own office 
of Messias. The disciples of John 
and of Jesus, being thus brought to- 



" HE MUST INCREASE; BUT I MUST DE- 
CREASE." 

And there arose a question between 
some of John's disciples and the Jews con- 
cerning- purification. And they came to 
John, and said to him : Rabbi, he that was 
with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom 
thou gavest testimony, behold, hebaptizeth, 
and all men come to him. John answered 
and said : A man cannot receive any- 
thing except it be given him from heaven. 
You yourselves do bear me witness, that I 
said, I am not the Christ, but that I am 
sent before him. He that hath the bride, 
is the bridegroom : but the friend of the 
bridegroom, who standeth and heareth 
him, rejoiceth with joy because of the 
bridegroom's voice. This my joy, there- 
fore, is fulfilled. He must increase ; but I 
must decrease. He that cometh from 
above, is above all. He that is of the 
earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth 
he speaketh. He that cometh from heaven, 
is above all. And what he hath seen, and 
heard, that he testifieth : and no man re- 
ceiveth his testimony. He that hath re- 
ceived his testimony, hath attested by his 
seal that God is true. For he whom God 
hath sent, speaketh the words of God : for 
God doth not give the Spirit by measure. 
The Father loveth the Son : and he hath 
given all things into his hand. He that be- 
lieveth in the Son, hath life everlasting : 
but he that believeth not the Son, shall not 
see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on 
him. 



i 7 4 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST,] 

gether, began to dispute about the baptisms of their re- 
spective masters, and the preference given to the latter 
chagrined the followers of the Precursor. But the 
soul of the Baptist was thrilled with joy, and not, as. 
they had hoped, with anger. John had been com- P 
missioned by Heaven to prepare the way for Jesus ; j 
he could only be glad to know that the Messias was! 
drawing the people about Him and teaching them. | 
1 ' You yourselves do bear me witness that I said I J 
am not the Christ," he insisted, " but that I am sent 3 
before Him. He that hath the bride is the bride- 
groom : but the friend of the bridegroom, who stand- 
eth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of 
the bridegroom's voice. This my joy, therefore, is 7 
fulfilled." John thus claims the honor of the Shosh-' 
ben, the intermediary between bride and groom among 
the Jews, who bore their affectionate messages, 
prepared the marriage and superintended its cere-! 
monies. So John was the Shoshben between Jesus 
Christ and His Church (Kph. v. 32), His Spouse. 
When he had given to the loving company of Jesus 
His first disciples, John, Peter, and Andrew, he re-r 
joiced to see the union of bride and groom begun. 
Yet more he now rejoices to see it extending and) 
perfecting itself in the souls of a multitude of dis- 
ciples. He is glad to withdraw, his task well done. 
" He must increase, but I must decrease," he ex- 
claimed. And his disciples must bear their part in 
this order of Providence. He continued addressing 
them, and in words so like our Saviour's to Nico- 
demus that it has been supposed that he had received 
them from some of his old followers in an account 
of that interview. "He that cometh from above is 
above all : he that is of the earth is earthly, and 
speaketh of the earth." The misery of it is that so 



I THE IMPRISONMEN T OF JOHN THE BA P TIS T. 175 

Ifew hear Him — nobody at all, to John's eager eyes, 
; though his disciples said it was everybody — "And 
jno man receiveth His testimony." But " He that hath 
received His testimony hath set to his seal that God 
J is true." Faith in Jesus is a direct submission to the 
I God of truth, whom He represents as the tongue does 
! the heart, as John best knew after the divine mani- 
! festations at the baptism of Jesus. And now he con- 
cludes ; it is with the threatening tones peculiar to his 
character: " He that believeth in the Son, hath ever- 
lasting life: and he that believeth not the Son, shall 
not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." 
The Precursor knows that his work is nearly 
ended, as his words indicate. They have the accent 
of farewell. A brief period of steadfast reproval 
of vice and loud resounding calls to repentance still 
remains to him, and then a glorious martyrdom will 
crown the career of this stern Hebrew prophet with 
its appropriate glory. 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. — JESUS 
AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 

Matt. iv. 12 ; Mark i. 14. ; Luke iii. 19, 20 ; John iv. 1-26. 

JESUS now takes His way towards Galilee, to avoid 
the envious contentions of John's over-loyal disciples 
as well as the intrigues of the Pharisees. " When 
Jesus therefore understood that the Pharisees had 
heard that Jesus maketh more disciples, and baptizeth 
more than John (though Jesus Himself did not bap- 
tize, but His disciples), He left Judea." Another 
reason hurried Him away from Judea : He heard the 
ominous news that John had been seized and im- 
prisoned in the Perea by Herod Antipas. " But 



JESUS TEACHE9 THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 

He Cometh, therefore, to a city of Sa- 
maria which is calh-d Sichar ; near the 
piece of ground which Jacob gave to his 

son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. 
Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his 
journey, sat thus on the well. It was about 
the sixth hour. There cometh a woman 
of Samaria, to draw water. Jesus saith to 
her : Give me to drink : (for his disciples 
were gone into the city to buy food.) Then 
that Samaritan woman saith to him : How 
dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, 
who am a Samaritan woman ? For the 
Jews do not communicate with the Samari- 
tans. Jesus answered, and said to her : If 
thou didst know the gift of God, and who 
it is that saith to thee, give me to drink ; 
thou, perhaps, wouldst have asked of him, 
and he would have given thee living water. 
The woman saith to him : Sir, thou hast 
nothing wherein to draw, and the well is 
deep : from whence then hast thou living 
water ? Art thou greater than our father 
Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank 
thereof himself, and his children, and his 
cattle ? Jesus answered, and said to her : 
Whosoever drinketh of this water, shall 
thirst again : but he that shall drink of the 
water that I shall give him, shall not thirst 
for ever. But the water that I shall give 
him, shall become in him a fountain of 
water, springing up unto everlasting life. 
The woman saith to him : Sir, give me this 
water, that I may not thirst, nor come 
hither to draw. Jesus saith to her : Go, 
call thy husband, and come hither. The 
woman answered, and said : I have no 
husband. Jesus said to her : Thou hast 
said well, I have no husband. For thou 
hast had five husbands : and he whom thou 
now hast, is not thy husband. This thou 
hast said truly. The woman saith to him : 
Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 
Our fathers adored on this mountain : 
and you say, that at Jerusalem is the 
place where men must adore. Jesus saith 
to her : Woman, believe me the hour 
cometh, when you shall neither on this 
mountain nor in Jerusalem adore the Fath- 
er. You adore that which you know not : 
we adore that which we know : for salva- 
tion is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, 
and now is, when the true adorer shall 
adore the Father in spirit and in truth. 
For the Father also seeketh such to adore 
him. God is a spirit : and they that adore 
him, must adore him in spirit and in truth. 
The woman saith to him : I know that the 
Messias cometh (who is called Christ) : 
therefore, when he is come, he will tell us 
all things. Jesus saith to her : I am he, 
who am speaking with thee. 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Herod the Tetrarcb, when he was 
reproved by him [John] for Hero- 
dias, his brother's wife, and for all 
the evils which Herod had done, he 
added this also above all, and shut 
up John in prison. And when Jesus 
had heard that John was delivered 
up, He retired into Galilee. And 
He was of necessity to pass through 
Samaria." This road to the north 
was the direct one, but was often 
avoided on account of the enmity of 
the Samaritans. But Jesus had Glad 
Tidings even for the hated and hos- 
tile Samaritans. Furthermore, the 
other route was dangerous, being 
through the Perea, where Herod 
held John captive. 

As Jesus arrived near a city called 
Sichar, close by the field which 
Jacob gave to his son Joseph, He 
made a halt ; it was noon of a hot 
summer's day, and after many hours 
afoot Jesus was tired and thirsty ; He 
sat down upon the wall of Jacob's 
well in the refreshing shade of the 
trees which grew about it, while His 
disciples went into the city to buy 
food. A woman came to the well to 
draw water, and the kind heart of 
Jesus determined to engage her in 
conversation, to instruct her and to 
save her — well He knew her sad 
necessity. With a friendly air He 

said to her: "Woman, give me to 
176 



JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 



■77 



drink." Now, this poor soul was flattered by such a 
request coming from a noble-looking stranger, and es- 
pecially so because she perceived by His dress and 
accent that He was a Jew. How safely may one cross 
the line of fire between hostile families and races when 
protected by a kindly word ! 

She Was a woman of evil life, and doubtless no very 
firm believer in any religion. Her answer to Jesus 
was a reminder of the race-hatred : " How dost Thou, 
being a Jew, as"k of me to drink, who am a Samaritan 
woman ? ' ' The thirst of Jesus for souls was His great 
thirst ; and absorbed in His purpose to save this poor 
soul He says no more about His bodily thirst. In 
a tone of gentle reproof He answers : "If thou didst 
know the gift of God, and 
who it is that saith to thee, 
Give me to drink, thou per- 
haps wouldst have asked of 
Him, and He would have 
given thee living water." 
These gentle words, the kind- 
ly glance, the friendly tone, 
transfix the poor woman. It 
is by such means that the 
divine mercy makes the way 
of salvation easy to immortal 
souls. 

What Jesus said and the 
way He said it meant this : 
Didst thou but know how 
God has watched over thee, 
chosen this hour and this 
place for thy eternal welfare, 
led thee this very moment to 
the holy well, given thirst to 




There ccmeth a woman of Samaria to draw water,' 



i;S LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

His Son that He might ask thee to give Him a drink 
and so be brought to listen to Him — if thou didst but 
know the gift of God ! The woman was deeply moved, 
her soul was stirred by these words : " the gift of God," 
11 the living water," " if thou didst know." She could 
but stammer forth something about the well and its 
waters : ' ' Sir, Thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and i 
the well is deep : from whence then hast Thou living ' 
water ? ' ' Upon which Jesus gives her still deeper | 
draughts of His spiritual waters. Pointing to the well, 
He says : ' ' Whosoever drinketh of this water shall 
thirst again : but he that shall drink of the water that I 
shall give him shall not thirst for ever." She did not 
yet know what He meant ; but by this time she sus- 
pected Jesus to be a wonder-worker. " Sir, give me 
this water, that I may not thirst, nor come hither to j 
draw." Upon which Jesus rewarded her dawning faith 
by not alone promising her the waters of eternal life, 
but by showing her His knowledge and mastery of all 
life, and hers in particular. "Go, call thy husband, 
and come hither." This touched a sore spot, and 
she gave an evasive answer, the usual refuge of de- 
tected vice. She said that she had no husband. 
Jesus closed with this instantly : ' ' Thou hast said 
well, I have no husband, for thou hast had five 
husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not th5^ 
husband." This was lightning from a blue sky to 
the poor erring creature. The woman saw that she 
was known to the stranger, all her adulterous wicked- 
ness fully revealed to this mysterious man, her sepa- 
rations and divorces and infidelities, and her present 
connection in violation of all law. She does not deny 
it, she cannot ; she does not excuse her sinfulness. 
" Sir," said she — let us hope with real sorrow — " I 
perceive that Thou art a prophet." And then sudden- 



JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 



179 



ly, and with the resource of female ingenuity, she inter- 
rupted the further shameful disclosures which she 
dreaded, by saying: "Our fathers adored on this 
mountain [Gerazim], and you say that at Jerusalem 
is the place where men must adore." 

Jesus benignantly yielded to her shamefaced sub- 
terfuge, and from paternal admonition passed to 
doctrine: "Woman, believe 
Me the hour cometh when 
you shall neither on this 
mountain nor in Jerusalem 
adore the Father." This 
was equivalent to saying that 
all national religions were to 
be absorbed, so far as they 
were true, in the new and 
universal Church of God. 
But Jesus must maintain the 
ancient faith of God and the 
rights of His Temple. " Ye 
adore ye know not what : we 
know what we adore ; for sal- 
vation is of the Jews." In 
fact, the Samaritans rejected 
the Temple which God had 
founded ; they rejected the 
prophets whom God had in- 
spired, holding only to the « He that shall drink of the water that I shall give 
Pentateuch; and they were him, shall not thirst for ever." 
fatally infected with idolatrous practices handed down 
from their Assyrian forefathers. 

Jesus does not stop ; He develops the further and 
completer truth. "But the hour cometh, and now 
is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in 
spirit and in truth." Above all things the religion 




i8o LIFE OF JESUS CHKIST. 

now beginning is one of the interior life of man, al- 
though external worship shall not be lacking. The 
temples, ceremonies, priesthood of the new law shall 
be perfect in their beauty and holiness. But they 
shall in addition be infinitely more spiritual than were 
the former rites and the ancient priesthood ; nay, 
the new external forms shall be so adapted to develop 
the interior union of the soul with God as to be in 
literal truth the outward signs of the indwelling 
Spirit. The dispensation of the time that cometh and 
now is must be perfect spirituality. The paramount 
purpose of God is to build for Himself and consecrate 
and inhabit an invisible temple, that of faith and hope 
and love in Ihe souls of men. In that temple there 
shall be a Holy of Holies where the soul shall commune 
alone with God ; there shall we immolate our pride, our 
self-seeking, our natural passions. A spiritual whole- 
burnt sacrifice is what God wants. And there is none 
which man can offer to God so worthy of the divine 
majesty as his own thoughts and affections and pur- 
poses. Such is the meaning of Jesus in saying : " God 
is a spirit : and they that adore Him, must adore Him 
in spirit and in truth." 

The woman heard this teaching, so pure, so com- 
manding, and the thought of the Messias flashed into 
her mind. Not daring to ask the question outright, 
she said: " I know that the Messias cometh who is 
called Christ: therefore, when He is come, He will 
tell us all things." And now a wonderful condescen- 
sion: to this poor sinner, and not to the orthodox 
Hebrews, did Jesus plainly avow His mission. With 
all her sins and errors she had good will, while they 
were set upon their own scheme — a Messias who 
would overturn the Gentile world and build a Jewish 
empire on its ruins. " Jesus saith to her: I am He 



JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN. 



181 



who am speaking with thee." And so ended His 
colloquy with the woman at the well. 



But she itn- 
came His mes- 
history of Jesus 
Church we often 
religious power 
verts, even those 
hearts have long 
The Samaritan 
spicuous exam- 
water-pitcher at 
stinctively giv- 
her return, she 
city and eager- 
news: "The 
left her water- 
her way into the 
the men there: 
man who hath 
things whatso- 
Is not He the 
went therefore 




mediately be- 
senger. In the 
Christ and His 
meet with the 
of women con- 
whose wayward 
gone astray, 
woman is a con- 
pie; leaving her 
the well, as if in- 
ing a pledge of 
runs into the 
ly tells her 
woman therefore 
pot and went 
city, andsaithto 
Come and see a 
told me all 
ever I have done. 
Christ? They 
out of the city 



and came unto a woman_op the gentiles. Him." 



182 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 




CHAPTER XII. 

THE HARVEST AND THE REAPERS. 

John iv. 35-42. 

q)EFORE the woman's departure the disciples re- 
turned, and they were not a little surprised 
to see Jesus very earnestly conversing with a 
woman about the true worship of God and the 
coming of the Messias — with a Samaritan wo- 
man too. Fervent Jews in those days rated 
female intelligence rather too low for such 
favors; yet the disciples dared not question 
Him about it. "And they wondered that He 
talked with the woman. Yet no man said : 
What seekest Thou ? or why talkest Thou with her ? ' ' 
She was soon gone, and at last our Saviour's followers 
interrupted His thoughts about the new kingdom. 
"The disciples prayed Him: Rabbi, eat." Then He 
told them that He had been eating and drinking of 
His Father's banquet. "I have meat to eat which 
you know not. The disciples said therefore one to 
another: Hath any man brought Him to eat?" He 
then taught them the lesson of how the hungry soul 
forgets the hungry body. "Jesus said to them: My 
meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, that I 
may perfect His work." L,ater on, and as if in confir- 
mation of His claim of over-occupied zeal, a crowd of 
Samaritans were seen coming along the road and 
through the fields. 

The wheat harvest could not be far off at this sea- 
son of the year, and it is possible that the Master, 
seeing the men and women coming along through the 
grain, used the sight, in His familiar way, to illustrate 
His point — the quick returns of the apostolic ministry, 
as shown by the sudden movement wrought among 



THE HARVEST AND THE REAPERS. 



183 



this half-heathen people by His conversation with the 
woman at the well. Even the moments of leisure of a 
zealous apostle may be turned to infinite account. 
"14ft up your eyes," He exclaimed, "and see the 
countries, for they are white already to harvest." He 
spoke to them of countries, of a world-wide mission, 
of kings and senates and tribes and nations coming to 
be garnered in His father's grana- 
ries, drawn by His disciples' per- 
suasion. But how drawn ? How 
ripened ? By the Father's precedent 
persuasion in each one's heart. "It 
is one man that soweth, and it is 
another that reapeth. I have sent 
you to reap that in which you did 
not labor." 

While they had been absent a 
short while in the city a spiritual 
harvest was begun and ended. Je- 
sus the harvester had rejoiced to 
sow the good seed, to behold its 
favorable reception, to accept the 
homage of the souls He had won. 
As to His disciples, Jesus was in- 
deed to sow the seed for them, but they were to 
co-operate with Him and rejoice with Him in the 
reaping. They were immediately surrounded by a 
multitude of Samaritans. These listened with joy to 
the teaching of the Master, who upon their urgent 
prayer entered the city and stayed two days with them, 
so many gladly believing His doctrine that the dis- 
ciples could easily see how the Gentile heart would 
be open to the Saviour's message. 

The profession of faith which was publicly uttered 
by the new converts was suggestive of two things : 



THE HARVEST AND THE REAPERS. 

Do not you say, there are yet four 
months, and then the harvest cometh ? 
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and 
see the countries, for they are white already 
to harvest. And he that reapeth, receiveth 
wages, and gathereth fruit unto everlasting 
life ; that both he that soweth, and he that 
reapeth, may rejoice together. For in this 
is the saying true : that it is one man that 
soweth, and it is another that reapeth. I 
have sent you to reap that in which you 
did not labor : others have labored, and 
you have entered into their labors. Now 
of that city many of the Samaritans be- 
lieved in him, for the word of the woman 
giving testimony, that he told me whatso- 
ever I have done. So when the Samari- 
tans were come to him, they desired him 
that he would stay there. And he stayed 
there two days. And many more believed 
in him because of his own word. And 
they said to the woman : We now believe, 
not for thy saying : for we ourselves have 
heard him, and know that this is indeed 
the Saviour of the world. 



184 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

one, that they had not been hastily or unreasonably 
convinced, for they told the Samaritan woman that it 
was not from her testimony of Jesus that they believed 
Him, but because they themselves had heard Him, 
and doubtless had closely and fully questioned Him. 
The second point they emphasized was that they 
accepted Jesus, not only as a prophet, a teacher, a 
powerful ra 1 bi, but also as a Saviour. Always this 
was His purpose in His discourses — the affirmation of 
His soul-saving office in addition to that of divine 
teacher.* 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE RETURN TO GAUEEE. — THE HEADING OF THE 

ruler's SON. 

John iv. 43-54. 

' ' Now after two days He departed thence, and 
went into Galilee." He did not, however, go straight 
to Nazareth : ' ' For Jesus Himself gave testimony that 
a prophet hath no honor in His own country." He 
knew that sooner or later He must test His own 
city, but He was reluctant to do so, having forebod- 
ings of the result. Among the Galileans generally 
He was certain of a welcome. He had already given 
them a taste of His doctrine and had worked His first 
miracle among them. Also the fame of His adven- 
ture with the traders in the Temple must have pre- 
ceded Him. Courageous themselves by nature, the 

*It is probable that the Samaritans in after years dated from 
this hour the final conversion of their country to the Christian faith. 
It was followed, unhappily, in later times, by successful impostures of 
false prophets. Under Vespasian, Sichem became a Roman colony, and 
was called Flavia Neapolis. St. Justin, the illustrious philosopher and 
martyr, one of the most powerful defenders of the early Christian faith, 
was born there. 



THE HEALING OF THE RULER'S SON. 



185 



Galileans admired His boldness, His zeal against the 
abuses in the holy places. They wanted to see more 
miracles — He was at least a prophet, perhaps the 
Messias. 

The moment He arrived in Cana, where He wrought 
His first miracle, an officer of Herod's court, Chusa 
perhaps, or Manahen, the Tetrarch's foster-brother, 
prayed Him to come down to Ca- 
pharnaum to heal his son, to snatch 
him from the very jaws of death. 
But the faith of the ruler — such was 
his office in the synagogue — appear- 
ed to be half-hearted. He asked 
that Jesus should journey the twen- 
ty-five miles to his son's bedside to 
work the miracle. The power of 
Jesus was absolute, and must be so 
recognized by an enlightened soul ; 
near or far, he was sovereign lord 
of sickness and health. The Jews of 
Capharnaum had an inordinate crav- 
ing for miracles, — it was the chief 
thing they wanted from Jesus; 
whereas the poor Samaritans, as 
we have seen, were glad and con- 
tent with His high and inspiring 
doctrine and His loving behavior to- 
wards them. Jesus therefore said (but, too kind to 
single out the ruler, He spoke to all who were as- 
sembled) : " Unless you see signs and wonders you 
believe not." The man's heart was too sore to be 
discouraged. " L,ord," he said, "come down before 
that my son die. Jesus saith to him : Go thy way, 
thy son liveth." 

The words, the manner, the glance of Jesus, gained 



"GO THY WAY, THY SON LIVETH." 

Then when he was come into Galilee, 
the Galileans received him, having seen all 
the things he had done at Jerusalem on the 
festival day : for they also went to the festi- 
val day. He came again therefore into 
Cana of Galilee, where he made the water 
wine. And there was a certain ruler 
whose son was sick at Capharnaum. He 
having heard that Jesus was come from 
Judea into Galilee, went to him, and 
prayed him to come down and heal his 
son : for he was at the point of death. 
Jesus therefore said to him : Unless you 
see signs and wonders you believe not. The 
ruler saith to Him : Lord, comedown before 
that my son die. Jesus saith to him : Go 
thy way, thy son liveth. The man believed 
the word which Jesus said to him, and went 
his way. And as he was going down, his ser- 
vants met him, and they brought him word 
that his son lived. He asked therefore of 
them the hour wherein he grew better, and 
they said to him : Yesterday at the seventh 
hour the fever left him. The father there- 
fore knew that it was at the same hour that 
Jesus said to him : Thy son liveth ; and 
himself believed, and his whole house. 
This is again the second miracle that Jesus 
did when he was come out of Judea into 
Galilee. 



1 86 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



the heart of the ruler; he firmly believed the cure 
had been wrought, and on his way home he met his 
servants hurrying to tell him that his son had been 
suddenly and perfectly restored. At what hour? The 
very same at which Jesus had spoken the word. 
Deeper still grew the ruler's faith, and his whole house- 
hold joined him in adhesion to Jesus. 

By this second miracle in the city of Cana began 
the religion of Christ to grow and spread in the land 
of Galilee. This was a great joy for Jesus. Later on 
we shall find Chusa's wife among the faithful women 
who followed Him and ministered to Him and His 
Apostles ; the mother of the boy who was miracu- 
lously healed gladly paid her gratitude to the great 
Being who had comforted her stricken heart. 




CHAPTER XIV. 



AT NAZARETH. 



Luke iv. 14-30. 

VERY fiftieth year was set apart by the 
Law of Moses as one of special joy to Israel, 
and called the Year of Jubilee. The time 
spent by Jesus in Galilee was His time of 
Jubilee. Though not without its storms, it 
was a happy, busy, and successful season of 
preaching to a simple-hearted people. His 
miracles were incessant and were taken, 
generally, as He intended — Heaven's au- 
thentication of the Teacher's doctrine. The 
Glad Tidings took hold of men's hearts and triumphed 
in their minds. "And the fame of Him went out 
through the whole country. And He taught in their 
synagogues and was magnified by all." To discerning 



A T NAZARETH. 187 

Spirits His doctrine was more marvellous (as it has 
been in all succeeding generations) than His mira- 
cles; they greedily listened to it. 

The synagogues at first, and afterwards, when the 
crowds were too vast for any building, the open fields 
were His places of meeting. On each Sabbath it was 
customary for the formal assembly of the people to be 
regularly held in the synagogues and addressed by 
the rabbis, and two or three other meetings each 
week for special prayers and Scripture lessons — too 
often over-done with casuistical interpretations. On 
all, or nearly all these occasions, Jesus was gladly 
heard ; He was hailed as a wonder-worker, and in the 
minds of vast numbers already acknowledged as the 
Messias; to all He was a preacher of unheard-of power. 

But what of His old home at Nazareth ? So far 
Jesus had managed to avoid His fellow-townsmen. 
Indifferent to Him, even ready to scorn Him, He 
knew them to be ; yet He could not longer refuse to 
preach to them. He went to His old home, entered 
the synagogue on a Sabbath day, "according to His 
custom," as if He were still only the obscure work- 
man they had ever known Him. He did not sit in 
the honorable place of the rabbis, but in the body 
of the congregation. The ruler of the synagogue sat 
with the elders in a sort of chancel ; but it was not 
customary to give to these officials the entire conduct 
of the public services of religion, for any instructed 
and competent Hebrew might speak to the assemblage. 
Jesus, thus placed amid the crowd of ordinary worship- 
pers, arose and asked for the book of the prophets. 
Of course they had all heard much of His career since 
He had left them, but they could not realize that 
He was what men said He was — a great teacher in 
Israel. Where had He studied? In His father's 



t88 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




THE BOOK OF THE PROPHETS 



carpenter shop ? No Nazarene as yet had 
heard Him discourse in public. They 
thought rumor had exaggerated His power. 
He had never so much as addressed His 
fellow- townsmen in the synagogue or read 
the Scriptures there, much less presumed 
to deliver a discourse. But the ruler of the 
synagogue beckoned Him forward, and as 
He advanced an assistant handed Him the 
cylinder round which was wrapped the 
scroll, and He who w T as yet only the young 
carpenter to all that congregation stepped 
into the reading-desk or pulpit, unwound 
the scroll, and began to read. It was the 
prophecy of Isaias, and, whether in the or- 
dinary course or by a special providence, the pas- 
sage was as follows : ' ' The spirit of the Lord is 
upon me, wherefore He hath anointed me to preach 
the Gospel to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal 
the contrite of heart, to preach deliverance to the cap- 
tives, and sight to the blind, to set at liberty them 
that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of 
the Lord, and the day of reward." Here He stopped, 
wound the scroll again on the cylinder, returned it to 
the assistant, and sat down, thereby expressing His 
purpose to discourse upon the passage He had read. 
A deep silence of expectation fell upon the congre- 
gation. What would He say? 

"This day," He began with equal dignity and 
earnestness, "is fulfilled this scripture in your ears." 
And then with voice and word of gentle persuasion 
He explained His meaning — He was se?it by God to save 
them. It w T as they who were meant by the prophet — 
they, His old friends and acquaintances, conscious 
as they must be of sin and temptation ; and He 



AT NAZARETH. 



189 



was appointed by God to heal their 
spiritual wounds and to ransom 
them from spiritual slavery ; them, 
His first and best-loved friends. 
To them He would impart the earli- 
est gifts of God in this His accept- 
able time, the spiritual and prophetic 
year of Jubilee. Not only they and 
the race of Israel, but all humanity, 
were to be freed and made godlike 
in liberty, and man was to be re- 
stored to his primitive dignity, in- 
nocence, and happiness. For a 
moment Jesus seemed to have won, 
— a whisper of approbation was 
heard. "They wondered at the 
words of grace that proceeded out 
of His mouth." 

But pride is not easily dethron- 
ed. Some one sneered, "Is not 
this the son of Joseph ? ' ' Other 
sarcastic words followed, and Jesus 
read in the hearts of His hearers the 
spite and incredulity which were 
lurking there ; it was too much for 
them to acknowledge His mission : 
an obscure young mechanic, with- 
out training or position, to announce 
Himself as the great messenger of 
heaven ! And many thought within themselves, Why 
did He not favor His own townsmen with miracles ? 
Did He work real ones ? They must be false wonders, 
tricks and deceits. Why not prove His mission by 
making Himself king ? Jesus answered their thoughts 
and their murmurs : * ' Doubtless you will say to M r e 



THE PROPHET IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. 

And he came to Nazareth where he was 
brought up : and he went into the syna- 
gogue according to his custom on the Sab- 
bath day ; and he rose up to read. And 
the book of Isaias the prophet was de- 
livered unto him. And as he unfolded the 
book, he found the place where it was 
written : The spirit of the Lord is upon me, 
wherefore he hath anointed me to preach 
the Gospel to the poor he hath sent me to 
heal the contrite of heart, to preach de- 
liverance to the captives, and sight to the 
blind, to set at liberty them that are 
bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the 
Lord, and the day of reward. And when 
he had folded the book, he restored it to 
the minister, and sat down. And the eyes 
of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 
And he began to say to them : This day is 
fulfilled this scripture in your ears. And 
all gave testimony to him ; and they won- 
dered at the words of grace that proceeded 
from his mouth, and they said : Is not this 
the son of Joseph ? And he said to them : 
Doubtless you will say to me this simili- 
tude : Physician, heal thyself : as great 
things as we have heard done in Caphar- 
naum, do also here in thy own country. 
And he said : Amen I say to you, that no 
prophet is accepted in his own country. In 
truth I say to you, there were many widows 
in the days of Elias in Israel, when heaven 
was shut up three years and six months, 
when there was a great famine throughout 
all the earth. And to none of them was 
Elias sent, but to Sarepta of Sidon, to a 
widow woman. And there were many lepers 
in Israel in the time of Eliseus the pro- 
phet ; and none of them was cleansed but 
Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the 
synagogue, hearing these things, were filled 
with anger. And they rose up and thrust 
him out of the city : and they brought him 
to the brow of the hill, whereon their city 
was built, that they might cast him down 
headlong. But he passing through the 
midst of them, went his way. 




The 



190 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

this proverb, Physician, heal thyself; as 
great things as we have heard done in 
Capharnaum, do also here in Thy own 
country. And He said, Xo prophet is 
accepted in His own country." 

And as a matter of fact, it is the famil- 
iars of a great man's childhood and youth 
who find it hardest to appreciate him in 
the day of his greatness. It was so with 
Jesus. But He went on and He taught 
them God's ways of sending miracles. 
He distributes His gifts to whom He 
pleases and prefers only those who by 
humility and faith are most worth y. 

At last He stood up, and as He left 
the synagogue He said : "In truth I say 
to you, many widows were in Israel in 
the days of Elias when heaven was shut 
up three years and six months, and there 
was a great famine throughout all the 
earth, and to none of them was Elias sent but to 
Sarepta of Sidon, a woman that was a widow. And 
there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Eliseus 
the prophet, and none of them was cleansed save 
Xaaman the Syrian." 

Xow rose the suspicions and the scorn of the 
Xazarenes into a storm of wrath. Jesus barely es- 
caped from the building. They drove Him through 
the streets and up the hill on whose slope the town 
was built : He had truly read their evil hearts. They 
forced Him to the brow of the hill to cast Him 
down headlong. They were on the point of murder- 
ing Him when Jesus stopped, and turning, He faced 
His enemies. It is well known that certain men can 
by a mere look or a simple word subdue a raging 



Spirit of the Lord is 
upon me." 



CAPHARNAUM. 191 

beast and bring him whining to their feet. This 
power Jesus had, as we shall often see, over beastly 
men. He used it on this occasion, a prerogative of 
superior humanity made entirely invincible by union 
with the sovereign Godhead itself. The Nazarenes 
were suddenly halted by His majestic glance. His 
stern looks stiffened their sacrilegious arms and 
silenced their tongues. They had clamored for a 
miracle, and this was His answer. He forced them 
to open a way for Him, and passed out between 
their pallid faces and rigid forms, offering the kind 
of a miracle they did not want but were unable to 
refuse. Thus was Jesus driven from the home of His 
childhood . 



CHAPTER XV. 

CAPHARNAUM. — "i WIIX MAKE YOU FISHERS OF 

MEN." 

Matt. iv. 13-16; Mark iv. iy-28 ; Luke 31-38. 

"And leaving the city Nazareth, He came and 
dwelt in Capharnaum on the sea-coast, in the borders 
of Zabulon and Nephthalim, that it might be ful- 
filled which was said by Isaias the prophet : La?id 
of Zabulon and land of Nephthalim, 
the way of the sea beyond the for dan, 
Galilee of the Gentiles : The people 
that sat in darkness, hath seen great 
light ; and to them that sat in the 
region of the shadow of death, light 
is sprung up." Jesus thus makes 
what might be called His home at 
Capharnaum ; but this does not 
mean that He remained there for 
any length of time. Moved by 



JESUS PUBLICLY CALLS HIS APOSTLES. 

And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, 
saw two brethren, Simon who is called 
Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a 
net into the sea (for they were fishers). 
And he saith to them : Come ye after me, 
and I will make you to be fishers of men. 
And they immediately leaving their nets, 
followed him. And going on from thence, 
he saw other two brethren, James the son 
of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship 
with Zebedee their father, mending their 
nets : and he called them. And they forth- 
with left their nets and their father with 
his hired men, and they followed him. 



I 9 2 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



RUINS OF 



high courage, devouring zeal, intolerant of interrup- 
tion, His journeyings were incessant from now until 
His death. Not only in the synagogues but every- 
where does He gather His audiences : in the pub- 
lic streets of towns and in private houses, at the 
foot of a mountain, from a boat anchored near 
the level shore. His discourses are generally brief, 
full of short maxims, .striking home to the simplest 
hearts, abounding in narratives and illustrations from 

daily life. He says just 
enough to give the Holy 
Spirit abundant material to 
move men in holy thoughts 
to prepare for a thorough 
newness of life. Especially 
He speaks of the ' ' Kingdom 
of God" and of repentance. 
1 ( From that time Jesus be- 
gan to preach the Gospel of 
the Kingdom of God, say- 
ing : The time is accomplish- 
a jewish synagogue between nazareth ed and the Kingdom of God 
and capharnaum. [ s a t hand ; repent and be- 

lieve the Gospel. Do penance, for the kingdom of 
heaven is at hand." He stays but a moment in any 
place, He makes no long discourses. He utters a few 
brief sayings, striking and novel, and moves onward, 
leaving men to their own thoughts. 

The people follow Him eagerly ; they must hear 
more. Who could listen to Him, a teacher so kind- 
ly, so majestic, so beautiful, so stirring in His elo- 
quence, and not want to listen to Him for ever? 
The whole country round was soon awakened to the 
deepest religious emotion. He preaches repentance, 
and He announces a Kingdom — He is both a teacher 




CAPHARNAUM. 193 

and a founder. Faith in His doctrine, in His rules 
of conduct, is inseparably associated with outward 
membership in a visible society. He teaches a re- 
ligion and He organizes a Church. Simon Peter 
and Andrew his brother had been called privately 
on a previous occasion. But they still occasionally 
worked at their secular calling of fishermen. Jesus 
now publicly sets them apart and makes Himself 
their only trade, and His Gospel their sole occupa- 
tion. "Come ye after Me," He says, "and I will 
make you to be fishers of men." He does the same 
with the two sons of Zebedee. They may have 
thought what they pleased about their previous voca- 
tion ; this one is definite and clear ; they are selected 
as officials in His new kingdom, to be with Him in 
special love, in strict obedience, and for ever. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

VANQUISHING AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT. — HEALING SIMON'S 
WIFE'S MOTHER. — ALL GALILEE IS EVANGELIZED. 

Matt. viii. 14-17, and iv. 23-25 ; Mark i. 21-39; 
Luke iv. 31-4.4. 

Capharnaum is one of the most important local- 
ities in the life of Jesus Christ. There, as we have 
seen, He fixed His abode, or rather the centre of His 
activity. There He found keen and observant audi- 
tors from the heart of Asia, from Egypt and the 
West, travelling parties on the stream of commerce 
which flowed through the city's streets — a centre of 
trade for Jews and pagans. The strong wings of 
commerce were then freighted with the Glad Tidings, 
and doubtless in after years many yielded a quicker 
allegiance to the Saviour, when preached in their 



194 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




AN ANCIENT POTTERY. 



homes by the Apostles, because they had heard Him I 
personally and seen His miracles in Capharnaum. ) 
From this point Jesus could move easily in any f 
direction in northern Palestine, sending His disciples 
eastward across the lake into the Perea, or west- 
ward through Galilee. The homes of Peter and the I 
other disciples gave Him refuge and hospitality amid i 
loving friends. Thus Capharnaum became His city, f 
His home, as far as He can be said to have had one. ] 
Nothing remains of this once busy mart, in whose 
streets the Saviour of the world mingled withi 
merchants and soldiers and idlers, and preached pen-/ 
ance and the Kingdom of God ; nor are we quite 
sure of its exact location. The malediction which 
later on He pronounced (Matt. xi. 23) against it> 
for its final indifference to His call was fulfilled toi 
the letter, and Tel-Hum, a scattering of melancholy] 
ruins, is all that remains. But in our Lord's time! 
it was a beautiful place, so situated as to command 
a charming view down the lake, taking in both 
banks, whose verdant slopes enclosed in emerald set- 
ting the clear waters, reflecting the white cottages of; 
many villages and the sails of many graceful vessels .1 
Never was scene more tranquil than that] 
chosen by our Saviour as the principal spot 
in which to speak to men of His meek and 
peaceful Gospel. The town was an indus-f 
trial as well as a commercial centre, many 
ruins of mills and tanneries and potteries 
upon its site and in its immediate vicinity 
showing where those honest workmen whc 
were the usual audience of the Messias earn- 
ed their living. He sat among them, or He 
stood above them upon a wall or the ruir 
of a well, and told these toilers about the 




CAPHARNA UM. 195 

love of the Heavenly Father for 
them, of the divine equality of men 
before God, who made all men, rich , v 
and poor, learned and simple, JewsjSp 
and Gentiles and Samaritans, alike SI 
in His image, called them all to the % 
same immortal destiny, and gaveFjg 
His divine Son to all to lead them 
on to Paradise. 

1 ' And they entered into Caphar- 
naum, a city of Galilee, and forth- ^.^^ggg^-,-^— ^v S - 

with upon the Sabbath-days, going EARLY methods of farming. 

into the synagogue, He taught them." A Roman 
centurion, perhaps a proselyte, an officer of the 
garrison, had built a synagogue, out of love for the 
people and their religion, and this was doubtless 
the chief one of the several the town contained. Per- 
haps the prostrate columns of beautifully carved 
marble found at Tel- Hum to-day are the ruins of 
the edifice which so often resounded with the tones 
of our Saviour's voice. When the Master first ap- 
peared a crowded assembly awaited Him. St. Mark 
tells us the first impression : ' ' And they were as- 
tonished at His doctrine, for He was teaching them 
as one having power, and not as the Scribes." 

He handled living questions of practical impor- 
tance and He astonished men with His clearness ; es- 
pecially His address breathed authority in every word. 
The rabbis appealed to the interpretations of the 
writers of their class, and Jesus appealed to the Holy 
Scriptures and to good common sense ; He always 
awoke the voice of conscience. Their angry disputes 
concerned minute external observances over which 
they wrangled for ever, yet never came to a con- 
clusion ; Jesus treated of the great problems of time 



196 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



and eternity and fully settled every question in a 
brief discourse. He was the people's ideal preacher 
and He won their allegiance. 

While all were absorbed in listening to Jesus an 
unexpected disturbance occurred. A demoniac, an 
unhappy man possessed by a devil of uncleanness, 
had got into the S}magogue unnoticed. The words 
of the divine Teacher tormented the evil one within 
him like whips of fire. At length he burst out 
with a furious and resounding voice : ' ' Let us alone ; 
what have we to do with Thee, Jesus of Nazareth ? 
Art Thou come to destroy us ? I 
know Thee, who Thou art, the 
Holy One of God." The harsh 
tones, the writhing form and furious 
gestures of the demoniac, were in 
shocking contrast with the gentle 
Saviour. The people were fright- 
ened and amazed, awaiting some 
catastrophe. But Jesus knew that 
voice, and in words of scorn He 
"rebuked him, saying: Hold tlij 1 - 
peace, and go out of him." Instant- 
ly the unclean spirit flung his vic- 
tim into the crowd, shouting and tearing him, and then 
vanished, leaving him there without serious injuries. 

The astonished people began to ask who this 
triumphant Being was. He had already healed the 
sick by a mere word, and now He masters the terrible 
demons in like manner. A great fear fell upon all 
who were present. "What thing is this?" they 
questioned one another; "what is this new doctrine? 
For with authority He commandeth even the unclean 
spirits, and they obey Him." Nothing could have 
served our Saviour's mission better than this event, 



" LET US ALONE ! " 

And in the synagogue there was a man 
who had an unclean devil, and he cried out 
with a loud voice, saying : Let us alone ; 
what have we to do with thee, Jesus of 
Nazareth ? art thou come to destroy us ? 
I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of 
God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying : 
Hold thy peace, and go out of him. And 
when the devil had thrown him into the 
midst, tearing him, and crying with a loud 
voice, he went out of him, and hurt him 
not at all. And they were all amazed and 
there came fear upon all, insomuch that 
they questioned among themselves, saying : 
What thing is this ? what is this new doc- 
trine ? for with power he commandeth even 
the unclean spirits, and they obey him. 
And the fame of him was spread forth- 
with into all the country of Galilee. 



VANQUISHING AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT. 



197 



soon a topic of 
common conversa- 
tion. At this era 
the Jewish people, 
as Josephus re- 
lates, were fre- 
quently subjected 
to persecutions of 
the devil in visible 
form, possessions, 
obsessions, and the 
like. These, occur- 
ring with alarming 
frequency, and all 
over the country, 
as we shall see in 
the course of the 
Saviour ' s j ourneys, 
were a punishment 
for the unbelief 
of the Sadducees, 
who denied the 
existence of spirits 
and of immortal life. Some of the Jews thought that 
these evil spirits were the souls of lost men torment- 
ing the living. The better informed knew that they 
were devils, and that God allowed them to afflict the 
souls and bodies of men for their punishment or 
purification. Ordinary temptation by an evil spirit, 
foul imaginations, suggestions, enticements which 
draw the will to wickedness, and do this more power- 
fully than evil companionship of men — all this is some- 
thing easily comprehended. Beyond this there are still 
more powerful influences, placing the victim under a 
Spell of diabolical influence so strong as to render 




With power He commandeth even the unclean spirits, and 
they obey Him." 



198 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



hiin helpless. In the state called diabolical posses- 
sion the demon is like the pilot of a ship — he is 
master of the captain and the crew. He nses the 
bod)* and the entire outward activity of his victim 
as if they were his own, although he is not able to 
master the will otherwise than by placing it in a 
state of insensibility or lunacy. He is to the soul 
what a clot of blood in the brain is to the sensible 
man — insanity or the coma of apoplexy : and then he 
himself acts instead of the human will and under- 
standing. The man possessed is thus like a devil 
in human shape. Furthermore, the evil one general- 
ly affects the bodily state of his victim, causing 
various sorts of fits, deafness or loss of speech, or 
— i self-lacerations. Hence in the Gos- 
pel we read of demoniacs being 
cured. It must also be borne in 
mind that a demoniac is not always 
responsible — the demon does not 
possess the impossible power of com- 
pelling sin. Yet we must believe 
that God would rarely allow any 
person to be thus afflicted unless 
he had already voluntarily subjected 
himself by his vices to the enemy's 
yoke. Jesus, who had come to de- 
liver men from all slavery of sin, 
gladly delivered demoniacs from 
their horrible torment, nor is any 
miracle oftener repeated than that which is first record- 
ed as occurring in the synagogue of Capharnaum. 

When Jesus passed out of the synagogue He 
was in such honor that He might have taken His 
midday meal with some distinguished family, but 
He was true to His first though humblest friends. 



PETER'S WIFE'S MOTHER IS CURED. 

And immediately going out of the syna- 
gogue, they came into the house of Simon 
and Andrew, with James and John. And 
Simon's wife's mother lay in a fit of a 
fever : and forthwith they tell him of her. 
And coming to her he lifted her up, 
taking her by the hand : and standing over 
her he commanded the fever, and im- 
mediately the fever left her, and she min- 
istered unto them. And when it was even- 
ing after sunset, they brought to him all 
that were ill and that were possessed with 
devils. And all the city was gathered to- 
gether at the door. And he healed many 
that were troubled with divers diseases ; 
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken 
by Isaias the prophet, saying : He took our 
infirmities a?id bore our diseases. And 
devils went out of many, crying out, and 
saying : Thou art the Son of God. And 
rebuking them, he suffered them not to 
speak, for they knew that he was Christ. 



HEALING SIMON'S WIFE'S MOTHER. 199 

He went home with Simon-Peter. He found, no 
doubt, a hearty welcome, but also a saddened house- 
hold, for Simon's wife's mother lay ill of a fever, 
perhaps caused by the malaria mentioned by Josephus 
as arising from the swamps to the north of the I^ake 
of Genesareth. Simon and others must have begged 
their holy Guest to relieve the sick woman, nor 
would Jesus refuse to His near friends a favor freely 
granted to strangers. He took her by the hand, 
standing over her, looking upon her, instilling into 
her soul that loving confidence in His power which 
would merit the favor her friends had prayed for : 
1 ' He commanded the fever ; and immediately the 
fever left her, and she arose and ministered unto 
them." And thus in unrestrained enjoyment of the 
Saviour's gentle company and conversation some 
happy hours were spent. But the entire town and 
its neighborhood waited impatiently the setting of 
the sun and the end of the Sabbath stillness, that 
they might hurry to Him with all their sick friends, 
including a large number of demoniacs. He healed 
them all. He drove out the devils, commanding 
them to cease their cry, " Thou art the Son of 
God ! " lest they should precipitate an uncontrol- 
lable religious agitation. 

Far into the night He healed diseases and ex- 
pelled demons and spoke many 
words of heavenly healing for men's 
souls, and then retired to sleep : 
but at dawn of day, when they 
sought Him again, He had 
secretly departed. It was as 
if He wished to give the 
people of Capharnaum time to 
think. 




And they brought to Him all that were ill." 



200 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

To applaud His miracles, to say "He is a 
great rabbi," this was good enough to begin with; 
but it would take time and thought and prayer and 
counsel to accept Him heartily as the Messias. 
Therefore, "rising very early, going out He went 
into a desert place, and there He prayed." His 
mission demanded solitude ; He must pray as well 
as preach and work miracles. To the people He 
willingly gave the day-time ; they could not refuse 
Him the night hours for prayer. But a whole multi- 
tude went after Him, Simon in the lead. "And 
Simon and they that were with him followed after 
Him, and when they found Him they said to Him : 
All seek for Thee. And the multitudes besought 
Him and they stayed Him, that He would not de- 
part from them." Then He began a kind of mission- 
ary invasion of the land, leading great numbers 
about through the country and holding vast meet- 
ings in the open air, and more select assemblages 
in the synagogues. "And He saith to them: Let 
us go into the neighboring towns and cities, that 
I may preach there also the Kingdom of God, for 
to this purpose am I come. And Jesus went about 
all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preach- 
ing the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing all man- 
ner of sickness and every infirmity among the peo- 
ple." So it was that He performed His work, 
spending the early hours of morning in some lonely 
spot absorbed in prayer, lovingly communing alone 
with the Father. From this He would be drawn by 
the Apostles, and often by a great throng of men 
and women. The busy hours passed quickly away 
in speaking to His well-loved people about God's 
way of salvation, sometimes forced to discuss a 
miserable scruple with the Pharisees, stopping to eat 



ALL GALILEE IS EVANGELIZED. 



20 1 



a frugal meal with His followers, ministered to by 
the devout sisterhood which never left Him ; again 
teaching and journeying, always working astound- 
ing miracles, until long after dark He managed again 
to get a few hours of very necessary sleep. 

No wonder that St. Matthew relates: "And His 
fame went throughout all Syria, and they presented 
to Him all sick people that were taken with divers 
diseases and torments, and such as were possessed 
by devils ; and lunatics, and those that had the palsy, 
and He healed them. And much people followed 
Him from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jeru- 
salem, and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. " 

At this time Galilee was a populous province, 
with x>ver two hundred cities and towns, a vast 
field for our Saviour's zeal. His first excursions 
were through the northern part of the province, be- 
ginning with Bethsaida, a town lying to the north- 
east of Capharnaum, and the native place of Philip, 
Simon, and Andrew. It was, as is indicated by its 
name, the house of fish, 
a fishermen's village on 
the lake shore. I^ater 
on the Tetrarch Philip 
built a city near by, and 
called it Julias after the 
daughter of Augustus, 
but this new city was 
placed on the east side 
of the Jordan. At this 
populous centre Jesus 
found abundant material 
for His zeal. He pour- 
ed out His heart's trea- 
sures upon Bethsaida 




SEA OF GALILEE. 



CHQRAZIN, 



202 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



and its vicinity, and we shall find Him condemning 
it bitterly, with its neighbor Chorazin, for its indiffer- 
ence to His teaching. The Gospel says that the 
Master preached in many cities hereabouts, passing 
hurriedly from one to another like a man with good 
news, hardly waiting to see the effect of His preach- 
ing. Everywhere He worked so many miracles that 
St. Matthew, true to his Hebrew tendency to note 
the fulfilment of the ancient pro- 
phets, quotes from Isaias (ix. i): 
' ' The land of Zabulon and the land 
of Nephthalim, the way of the sea 
beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the 
Gentiles ; the people that sat in dark- 
ness saw great light, and to them that 
sat in the region of the shadow of 
death light is sprung up." 



THE SHIP OF PETER 



And it came to pass that, when the mul- 
titudes pressed upon him, to hear the word 
of God, he stood by the lake of Genesareth. 
And he saw two ships standing by the lake : 
but the fishermen were gone out of them, 
and were washing their nets. And going up 
into one of the ships, that was Simon's, he 
desired him to thrust out a little from the 
land. And, sitting down, he taught the 
multitudes out of the ship. Now when he 

1 had ceased to speak, he said to Simon : 
Launch out into the deep, and let down 
your nets for a draught. And Simon an- 
swering, said to him : Master, we have 
labored all the night, and have taken 
nothing : but at thy word I will let down 
the net. And when they had done this 
they enclosed a very great multitude of 
.ishes, and their net was breaking. And 
they beckoned to their partners that were 
in the other ship, that they should come 
and help them. And they came, and filled 
both the ships, so that they were almost 
sinking. Which when Simon Peter saw, 
he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying : De- 
part from me ; for I am a sinful man, 
O Lord. For he was wholly astonished, 
and all that were with him, at the draught 
of the fishes which they had taken : And so 

I were also James and John, the sons of 
Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. And 
Jesus saith to Simon : Fear not : from 
henceforth thou shaltbe taking men. And 

| when they had brought their ships to land, 

! leaving all things, they followed him. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

TEACHING FROM PETER'S BARQUE. 
— THE MIRACULOUS DRAUGHT 
OF FISHES. 

Luke v. i-ii. 
The unruly eagerness of the 
crowd was ever a cause of annoy- 
ance to the disciples of Jesus, though 
to Himself it was simply an occasion 
for the practice of loving patience, 
and in one instance, as in the case 
of the woman cured of an issue of 
blood, of miracles. It was used by Him, on an occasion 
which we have now to relate, to distinguish Peter from 
the rest of the chosen band. 

To be close at hand when He spoke, actually to 



TEACHING FROM PETER'S BARQUE. 203 

look into His face, to touch Him — all this was too 
precious a privilege to be lost, and there was often 
a heavy crush of the people about the Master. To 
do justice to all He sometimes ascended a rocky hill; 
again, the steps of a synagogue, or at Jerusalem, 
those of the Temple. On the shore of the lake He 
occasionally used as a pulpit one of the little ships 
of His disciples ; generally, it would seem, Simon's 
boat, apparently an accidental circumstance, but taken 
in connection with the changing of that Apostle's 
name at the Jordan, and with the office of Apostolic 
primacy which He afterwards bestowed on him, His 
choice of Simon's ship as His pulpit was evident- 
ly part of a plan. A meaning altogether peculiar has 
ever attached to the expression, the ship of Peter ; it 
stands for the Saviour's infallible authority in the 
Apostolic Bishopric of Peter's successors. 

How beautiful was the scene, as Jesus sat in the 
boat, gently swayed by the blue waves of the lake ! 
The calm of the morning hour, the charm of the 
landscape, helped our Saviour's kindly tones to in- 
stil His doctrine into souls filled with religious joy. 
No temple ever built, no palace of marble and gold, 
could have given Him a roof so splendid as the sky 
of Palestine, nor an enclosure so lovely as the lake 
with its waters sparkling in the sunlight, the green 
hills of the shore, the great throngs of eager and 
reverent listeners, drinking in the musical tones 
of the voice of the Messias. 
His good heart ended all in its 
own way. " Launch out into 
the deep," He said to Simon, 
when He had ended His dis- 

course, " and let down your " " ZZJ&Q&SS&&1L . 

nets tor a draught, as 11 He fishing-boat on lake genesareth. 




204 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 




4 ' They enclosed a very great multi- 
tude of fishes, and their net was 
breaking." 



wished to compensate for the use of the 
ship, as well as to stamp His preaching 
with a miracle. Simon said: "Master, 
we have labored all the night and have 
taken nothing, but at Thy word I will 
let down the net. And when they had 
done this they enclosed a very great mul- 
titude of fishes, and their net was break- 
ing. And they beckoned to their part- 
ners that were in the other ship, that they 
should come and help them. And they 
came and filled both the ships, so that 
they were almost sinking." This miracle 
and the words in which it is framed for 
our meditation have ever been the comfort of Chris- 
tian missionaries, and of others who labor through 
weary nights and weary days only to fail and fail 
again in gaining souls. At last the reward of faith 
is granted by the Lord with overwhelming generosity, 
and the heart of the zealous envoy of Christ is 
humbled by His bounty and says, as Peter did : 
"Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man." 
Peter was more stunned by the power of Jesus than 
he was touched by His kindness. But what visions 
of the future apostolate were called up by our Sav- 
iour's answer: "Fear not, from henceforth thou 
shalt catch men." When all had reached the shore 
Jesus said to them, "Follow Me." These fisher- 
men lacked at this time some qualities of disciple- 
ship afterwards gained in high degree ; but Jesus 
had inspired them with zeal for souls : they immedi- 
ately left father, companions, ships, nets, the very 
fish He had just given them, and went away with 
Him, never more to leave Him. 

A yet further call, and a more public one, will 



THE CLEANSING OF A LEPER. 205 

be given them before many days. And these fisher- 
men will yet draw their nets across the entire sea 
of humanity, and will gather the multitudes to the 
shores of eternal joy. 




Fear not ; from henceforth thou shalt be taking men." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE CLEANSING OF A LEPER. 
Matt. viii. 2-4 ; Mark i. 40-44. ; Luke v. 12-16. 

This poor wretch whom Jesus healed, says St. 
Luke, "was full of leprosy." How did he manage 
to get close enough to Jesus to throw himself on his 
face and crave his cure ? Perhaps he forced his 
way into the crowd in spite of the legal prohibition to 
approach his fellow-men. It was not, however, for- 
bidden to lepers to travel, but they were bound under 
severe penalties to send forth the warning cry : ' ' Un- 
clean ! unclean ! ' ' 

The sanitary rules of the law of Moses prevented 
the spread of this fearful disease, but nothing could 



" THOU CANST MAKE ME CLEAN." 

And it came to pass when he was in a 
certain city, behold a man full of leprosy, 
who seeing Jesus and falling on his face, 
besought him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, 
thou canst make me clean. And Jesus 
having compassion on him, stretched forth 
his hand ; and touching him, saith to him : 
I will. Be thou made clean. And when 
he had spoken, immediately the leprosy 
departed from him, and he was made clean. 
And he strictly charged him, and forth- 
with sent him away. And he saith to 
him: See thou tell no one, but go, shew 
thyself to the high- priest, and offer for thy 
cleansing the things that Moses command- 
ed, for a testimony to them. But he being 
gone out, began to publish, and to blaze 
abroad the word ; so that [Jesus] could not 
openly go into the city, but was without in 
desert places, and they flocked to him from 
all sides, and he retired into the desert and 
prayed. 



206 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

secure its extinction from thej 
community. The unhappy victim,, 
whose loathsome sores, as the 7 
malady developed, finally covered 
his whole body, was condemned to^ 
live apart, generally in some desert; 
place, the afflicted forming little 
settlements of the most pitiable, 
creatures eye ever saw. At the, 
crisis of the disease the entire body, 
was swollen, the nails of the fingers . 
and toes rotted off, and the eyes,, 
ears, nostrils, and mouth exuded 
corruption, the voice becomingj 
harsh and shrill. If the leper could- 
survive this period of misery, he became of an astonish- 
ing whiteness, every part of his body, even to his hair,, 
being perfectly bleached. But after this, though he: 
was miserable enough, his malady was not contagious, ( 
and on presenting himself to the priests he was re- 
lieved of the leper's interdict, and could return to; 
his home and family. 

However it may have happened, our poor leper 
made his way to Jesus and threw himself upon the 
ground before Him, amazing everybody by his bold- 
ness, now hiding his hideous face and now show-, 
ing it, and crying out, " Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou 
canst make me clean." Faith in the Christ he 
had, and trust in His power — the two virtues which 
are the latch and the hinge of the Lord's heart. 
What was the terror of the crowd to see Jesus actual- 
ly reach out and touch and caress the poor leper, 
against the law and against all fear of contagion. 
Little did they dream that He was Maker and Master 
of all law — that He would touch and taste and be 



THE CLEANSING OF A LEPER. 



207 



iclothed with our moral leprosy without being made 
unclean with its guilt. " I will ; be thou made clean," 
(said our Saviour ; " when He had spoken, immediate- 
ly the leprosy departed from him and he was made 
jclean." The hand that touched him was not made 
junclean, but the entire body which it had touched 
jwas instantly healed. 

And now Jesus commanded the happy man to go 
;to the priest and show himself, according to the law 
lof Moses, and obtain a certificate of health, as well 
;as make the proper thank-offering ; adding a pre- 
caution lest the priesthood of the neighborhood, near- 
ling that He had broken the law of touching a leper, 
i should be enraged against Him: "See thou tell no 
man." The time was not yet come for the Messias 
(fully to reveal His relation to the old order of re- 
ligion and decree its complete supersession. His 
gentle charity had only violated a precept which He 
I Himself had made and could unmake, but His spirit 
of entire obedience was active for the edification of 
the people. However, the cleansed leper, more thank- 
ful than obedient, "being gone out, began to pub- 
lish and to blaze abroad the word." 



i»*^ste«L 



<<§l 1 felted 



ib^H^ 





feh ( * * r 



A LEPER HOSPITAL. 



2oS 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST 



CHAPTER XIX. 
JESUS RETURNS TO CAPHARNAUM. — CURE OF THE 
PARALYTIC, AND THE CONSEQUENT DISPUTE 
WITH THE PHARISEES. 

Matt. ix. 1-8; Mark ii. i-ij ; Luke v. iy-26. 



Jesus wished 



"SON, THY SINS ARE FORGIVEN THEE." 

And again he entered into Capharnaum 
after some days. And it was heard that he 
was in the house, and many came together, 
so that there was no room, no not even at 
the door ; and he spoke to them the word. 
And it came to pass on a certain day, as 
he sat teaching, that there were also Phari- 
sees and doctors of the law sitting by, that 
were come out of every town of Galilee 
and Judea and Jerusalem ; and the power 
of the Lord was to heal them. And be- 
hold they brought to him one sick of the 
palsy, lying in a bed, who was carried by 
four ; and they sought means to bring him 
in and to lay him before him. And when 
they could not find by what way they 
might bring him in, because of the multi- 
tude, they went up upon the roof, and let 
him down through the tiles with his bed 
into the midst before Jesus. And when 
Jesus had seen their faith, he saith to the 
sick of the palsy : Son, thy sins are forgiven 
thee. And there were some of the scribes 
sitting there, and thinking in their hearts : 
Why doth this man speak thus ? he blas- 
phemeth. Who can forgive sins, but God 
only ? Which Jesus presently knowing in 
his spirit, that they so thought within 
themselves, saith to them : Why think you 
these things in your hearts ? Which is 
easier, to say to the sick of the palsy : 
Thy sins are forgiven thee ; or to say : 
Arise, take up thy bed, and walk ? But 
that you may know that the Son of man 
hath power on earth to forgive sins (he 
saith to the sick of the palsy), I say to thee, 
Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy 
house. And immediately he arose ; and 
taking up his bed, went his way in the 
sight of all, so that all wondered, and 
glorified God, saying : We never saw the 
like. And he went forth again to the sea- 
side : and all the multitude came to him, 
and he taught them. 



to prevent His miracles from becom- 
ing in the people's eyes the main 
object of His mission. This would 
be a reversal of the true order. His 
miracles were like the seals upon 
title-deeds, the authentication of His 
doctrine. The multitude might 
easily be so dazzled by the great 
power of Jesus over the laws of 
nature as to forget that His main 
purpose was to seek and to save 
souls. As soon as He appeared 
they crowded upon Him in such a 
way as to hinder His publication of 
the Glad Tidings by their craving 
for the miraculous. It certainly in- 
fluenced Him in keeping out of the 
cities, as a general rule. He knew 
that the people who would follow 
Him into the country would be of 
the more earnest sort. Meantime in 
the country He would be better 
placed for an occasional retreat into 
total solitude, in which He could 
enjoy those hours of prayer to His 
Father which were the strength and 
the consolation of His human exis- 
tence. Before carrying out this 
plan He would visit Capharnaum 



JESUS RETURNS TO CAPHARNAUM. 



209 




to look after the good seed He had sown there. 
A sort of investigating committee awaited Him. 

Doctors of the law and leading Pharisees 
had come from all directions, some even from 
Jerusalem, drawn by the rumor of His miracles 
and of the novelty of His teaching, or sent by 
the highest officials of the Jewish Church. The 

intriguing priesthood, who had quarrelled with " ° ne sick oi the palsy." 
Him in the Holy City, easily found the right sort of 
men for their purpose ; these had come to Caphar- 
naum. They were rabbis of various grades of influ- 
ence and their power was great ; they shared personally 
in the deep reverence of the people for the law which 
they expounded, although a great proportion of them 
were tainted with Pharisaism. Such as these led the 
concourse of people which blocked the very doors of the 
house — no doubt Peter's — in which the Messias lodged : 
He must address them ; He did so most willingly. 

The deep silence of the auditory and the strong 
but gentle tones of the Master's 
voice were interrupted by a singu- 
lar incident. A helpless paralytic 
had arrived, borne on a litter by 
his attendants. It was vain to 
seek admission to Jesus through 
the door ; probably a score of un- 
fortunates had already tried and 
failed. Now, in the Orient there 
is generally an outside stairway or 
ladder leading to the flat roof of 
the dwelling. What the feebler 
will of the other miracle-seekers 

had left untried the enterprise and ^^^^^I^A^^^^ 
strong faith of the paralytic and , An l ide stairway le ^! g to the flat roof of 
his friends ventured upon. It the dwelling." 




210 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

must have been with infinite trouble and many 
sharp pains, but it was done : they dragged the 
bed and its occupant to the roof, actually displaced 
a part of the covering, and by means of ropes let 
the infirm man down into the house. There he was 
with his pleading eyes and his crippled form at 
Jesus' feet. It was a prayer by deed as well as word 
and look, and Jesus was pleased. He could not re- 
sist such faith ; men saw it in His face. But in- 
stead of the miracle which they breathlessly awaited, 
what was their surprise to hear: "My son, be of 
good heart; thy sins are forgiven thee." To cure 
diseases of the body is not the height of His power ; 
He asserts power over the soul vastly more marvellous. 
That which is man's most secret self, his conscience, 
is what Jesus can see, heal, raise to life. But is not 
this power a divine monopoly? Can any but God 
forgive sin, whom alone sin offends ? So silently 
reasoned the spies of the Scribes and Pharisees. 
They said no word, but in their hearts they were 
shocked and scandalized. Their thoughts ran in this 
wise : ' ■ Why does this man speak thus ? He blas- 
phemeth. Who can forgive sins but God only?" 

To speak as Jesus had spoken was, in fact, either 
to be a blasphemer or to possess the power of God. 
Jesus knew this, had foreseen the alternative, read 
their thoughts, and seized His point of vantage. For 
if in God's name He worked miracles, He was not a 
blasphemer in forgiving sins, but rather by claiming 
to exercise the attributes of God He proved His di- 
vinity. And now His first miracle was to reveal to 
His critics their unspoken thoughts ; His second to 
put life into the dead nerves of the cripple : ' ' W T hy 
think you these things in your hearts ? Which is 
easier, to say to the sick of the palsy : Thy sins are 



CURE OF THE PARALYTIC 



211 



forgiven thee ; or to say : Take up thy bed and walk ? " 
To man both are equally impossible, but they are 
alike easy to God. If Jesus could stand this man on 
sound and whole limbs by a word, it is plain He 
was no liar in anything He said or did : He had what- 
ever power He might claim to have. It is by exercise 
of power over the visible world that men may rightly 
claim the possession of authority over the invisible. 
The ordeal could not have been better chosen. If He 
healed this man, it followed that He had power over 
sin — He could heal men's souls. He received no an- 
swer to His challenge. 

And now Jesus spoke amid breathless expectation 
— can He heal the paralytic ? Our Saviour's voice is 
firm and imperative as He says: "But that you may 
know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to 
forgive sins (He saith to the man sick of the palsy) , 
I say to thee, Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy 
house. ' ' The dead nerves of the paralytic 
quivered with life, his bones were clothed 
with strong muscles, he suddenly rose up, 
caught up his bed from the floor, and, no 
doubt after fervent thanks to his double 
Benefactor (who had not only healed his 
body but cured the wound of mortal sin 
in his soul), he made his way triumph- 
antly through the wonder-stricken crowd, 
glorifying God. So did the assembled 
people glorify God ; but the emissaries 
of the hostile party were 
rather stricken with fear 
than moved to thanksgiv- 
ing. They went away say- 
ing : " We have seen won- 
derful things to-day." 




"Arise, take up thy bed and go into thy house." 



2*2 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XX. 

MATTHEW THE PUBUCAN. — THE TIME FOR FASTING 

AND THE TIME FOR FEASTING. 

Matt. ix. g-ij ; Mark ii. 14.-22 ; Luke v. 27—39. 

But no miracle could amaze an ordinary Jew in 
our Saviour's time more than His opening the door 
of His Church to publicans — the moet odious class in 
the community. A publican was an officer of the 
Roman revenue, the very sign and standard of the 
pagan tyranny undtr which Israel groaned ; he was 
the very type of the idolatrous usurpation. If him- 
self a pagan, he was in that an unclean thing as 
well as a minion of the foreign despot. But especially 
if he was a recreant Jew ; as an enemy of his re- 
ligion, a betrayer of his own nation, he was marked 
as an outlaw to every good Hebrew, excluded from 
the synagogue, incapable of offering evidence under 
oath. Capharnaum abounded in this class which was 
under so deep a malediction ; for as the Roman tax 
was gathered from trade and barter and import and 
export, the commerce between inner Syria and the 
Mediterranean, which passed through its streets, paid 
heavy tribute, which required many tax-gatherers. 
They had all doubtless heard of Jesus, some of them 
had seen Him from afar and had felt the charm of 
His voice ; but they were under the ban and dared 
not approach very near Him. One among them, Levi, 
or Matthew, was set apart by God for an example 
of Jesus' love for sinners. 

The Saviour was returning from one of His excur- 
sions into the country, a crowd of people bearing 
Him company into the city. He purposely passed 
near the publican, who was sitting at his table. 
Doubtless he saw Jesus and envied the disciples who 



MATTHEW THE PUBLICAN. 



213 



were close to Him, and helplessly 
longed for power to rise and join 
them. Jesus looked upon him, 
beckoned him to come, said to him, 
" Follow Me!" and instantly, as 
if all had been arranged between 
them beforehand, he rose up and 
followed the Master. The spell that 
Jesus lovingly put upon him con- 
quered greed for money and made 
him one of our Saviour's Apostles. 

Levi changed his name to Mat- 
thew, The Gift of God, in thanks- 
giving for having been elevated 
from an outcast of the Jews to close 
fellowship with the Christ. A yet 
nobler form of thanksgiving was his 
zealous endeavor to bring other 
publicans to our Saviour. He al- 
ready felt the passionate zeal of 
an apostle in his blood. Matthew 
therefore prepared a supper, invited 
many of his fellow customs officials, 
and Jesus, true to His principles, 
made no difficulty in accepting an 
invitation to be present, though 
the whole company was under the 
Jewish ban. 

The Pharisees and Scribes, when they learned of 
His intention, were scandalized. They feared to pro- 
test to the Master's face — they drew aside the disciples, 
simple men, whose scruples they hoped to rouse, or 
whose timidity they hoped to frighten. (< Wh}' doth 
your Master eat and drink with publicans and sin- 
ners ? ' ' Jesus heard this, and for His defence He 



THE VOCATION OF MATTHEW. 

And when Jesus passed on from thence, 
he saw a man sitting in the custom-house 
named Matthew, a publican, Levi, the son 
of Alpheus, and he said to him : Follow 
me. And leaving all things he rose up 
and followed him. And Levi made a great 
feast in his own house. And it came to 
pass, that as [Jesus] sat at meat many 
publicans and sinners sat down together 
with Jesus and his disciples. For they 
were many, who also followed him. And 
the scribes and the Pharisees, seeing that 
he ate with publicans and sinners, said to 
his disciples : Why doth your master eat 
and drink with publicans and sinners ? 
Jesus hearing this, saith to them : 1 bey 
that are well have no need of a physician, 
but they that are sick. For I came not to 
call the just, but sinners. Go then, and 
learn what this meaneth : I will have n.ercy 
and not sacrifice. And the disciples of 
John and the Pharisees used to fast : and 
they come, and say to him : Why do the 
disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast 
often and make prayers ; but thy disciples 
do not fast ? And Jesus saith to them : 
Can the children of the marriage fast, as 
long as the bridegroom is with them ? As 
long as they have the bridegroom with 
them, they cannot fast. But the days will 
come when the bridegroom shall be taken 
away from them : and then they shall fast 
in those days. And he spoke also a simil- 
itude to them : That no man putteth a 
piece from a new garment upon an old 
garment : otherwise he both rendeth the 
new, and the piece taken from the new 
agreeth not with the old. And no man 
putteth new wine into old bottles : other- 
wise the new wine will break the bottles, 
and it will be spilled and the bottles will 
be lost But new wine must be put into 
new bottles ; and both are preserved. And 
no man drinking old, hath presently a 
mind to new : for he saith, The old is 
better. 



214 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




borrowed a popular saying : ' ' They that are well 
need not a physician, but they that are sick." 
The Pharisees claimed to be spiritually sound — 
and so they were if exact external observance and 
loud outward profession make a man holy: to 
them, therefore, and by their own claim, the Heal- 
er of souls was not sent, but rather to such as these 
oriental way of eating. verv publicans and the sinful men who consorted 
with them. And He gave them a text : " Go then, and 
learn what this meaneth : I will have mercy and not sac- 
rifice " (Osee vi. 6). To save souls is more pleasing to 
God than to offer sacrifice. To seek and save poor 
sinners wandering towards eternal destruction — this 
was the choice of Jesus, rather than to preach exact 
observance of the law. Zeal for souls outranked even 
zeal for the law. Do sinners await Him? Everything 
is set aside to attend to them. And He added : " For 
I am not come to call the just, but sinners." It is a 
curious fact that this doctrine is a hard one for some 
Christians even at this late day fully to understand. 

Beaten on the question of the guests, the enemy 
assailed our Lord on that of the banquet itself. The 
Pharisees were great fasters, and perhaps this very 
day was one of their especial fast days. They were 
of that kind of ascetics who, on account of abstaining 
themselves, would relieve their hunger by sprinkling 
bitterness upon the food of others. They opened, be- 
sides, the old feud between the disciples of John the 
\ Baptist and those of Jesus: ''Why do the disciples 
of John and of the Pharisees fast often and make 
prayers, but Thy disciples do not fast?" The 
Saviour's manner and words were kindly as He an- 
The disciples of swered : "Can the children of the marriage fast, as 
long as the bridegroom is with them? As long as 
they have the bridegroom with them they cannot 




the Pharisees fast 



often and 
prayers." 



make 




TIME FOR FA S TING AND TIME FOR FEASTING. 2 1 5 

fast." Instantly the disciples of John must have 
recalled the same terms used by their master in 
speaking of Jesus. He is the bridegroom ; His 
Church, whom His disciples represent, is the 
bride ; and God His Father would have the es- 
pousals of His Son celebrated with every joy. 
Who ever heard of fasting at a wedding-feast? 
"But," He added sadly, thinking of the future, 
• ' the days will come when the bridegroom shall 
be taken away from them, and then they shall 
fast in those days." 

It is a renewal of the prophecy first made in 
the figure of the destruction of the Temple, and 
then in that of the brazen serpent, now yet more public. 

plainly and without any figure of speech. At every 
step on His way He must pass beneath the shadow of 
the Cross, now dimly seen, but gradually growing 
plainer. He is looking into the faces of some who will 
play a part in the tragedy : the Pharisees, who will con- 
spire against Him and finally triumph ; His disciples, 
who will be hunted like wild beasts, condemned to 
prison, weep many bitter tears, finally pour out their 
hearts' blood to cement the foundations of His Church. 
Fasting and weeping and sorrow enough in its time ; 
but let all rejoice in the brief day of the bride- 
groom's happy presence among them. 

But, they might have asked, why not at once re- 
veal the entire plan, the whole future of the new 
dispensation ? He answers by comparing His auditors, 
including His disciples, to an old garment in need 
of mending : ' ' No man putteth a piece from a new 
garment upon an old garment ; otherwise he both 
rendeth the new, and the piece taken from the new 
agreeth not with the old." If Jesus suddenly imposed 
on the old religion the entire system of belief and 



216 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

practice belonging to the new, He would precipitate 
a conflict. The genuine Hebrew cliaracter is not yet 
elevated enough to assimilate the new religious spirit, 
and, on the other hand, the Christian religion has 
nothing to gain from Judaism. The future of the 
Church was destined to demonstrate this. Even the 
most fervent converts from Judaism found it hard to 
receive the Gentiles upon terms of equality, or to 
allow the Mosaic law to be put aside as a worn-out 
and unmendable garment. Peter must have a new 
revelation before he would frankly and unreservedly 
go to the Gentiles, and Jesus must call in a new 
Apostle, Saul of Tarsus, to supply fully the wants of 
the pagan nations. Jesus must, therefore, exercise 
judgment in forming His followers, souls little ac- 
customed to His holy way, and only to be broadened 
and deepened by loving and gentle patience. All 
this is a precious lesson to those who aspire to 
make converts to Christ's true Church from the ad- 
herents of the many Christian sects around us. 

He enforced this caution by another comparison, 
suggested by the wine of the feast, contained in 
leathern bottles : ' ' No man putteth new wine into 
old bottles, otherwise the new wine will break the 
bottles, and it will be spilled and the bottles will be 
lost. But new wine must be put into new bottles, 
and both are preserved." He compares the new faith, 
alive with vigorous activity, to new wine. To fill a 
man with the ardent and impulsive zeal of Christian- 
ity, he must not be of the old order — all absorbed 
in the one purpose of preventing change from estab- 
lished for ins. When men's souls are made over, and 
become new in thought and temper, He will give 
them the new religion in all its integrity. New wine, 
even of a better grape, is not so pleasing as the 



WOMAN CURED OF AN ISSUE OF BLOOD. 217 

well-ripened juice of an inferior grape even of es- 
sentially lower quality. " No man drinking old wine 
hath presently a mind to new, for, he saith, The 
old is better." So must men's souls grow accustomed 
to the Gospel, and gradually become familiarized 
with its harsh-tasting rules, till their old ways of 
self- righteousness shall finally pall upon them. The 
teacher who succeeds in leading them to this is like 
St. Paul, who was all things to all men that he 
might gain all. To feeble souls a little effort is pro- 
posed, not great heroic acts, of which they are in- 
capable till after a long novitiate. 

Thus did Jesus discourse at table, on this occasion 
and on many others afterwards ; giving His hearers, 
amid the gentle influences and exchanges and kind 
offices incident to such gatherings, the most sublime 
doctrines of His religion. We shall see Him defend- 
ing the great penitent Magdalen at a dinner, giving 
some of His most remarkable parables on similar 
occasions, and at last associating with the name Supper 
His highest gift to man, His own living flesh and 
blood. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE WOMAN CURED OF AN ISSUE OF BLOOD. — THE 

RAISING TO LIFE OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS. 

Luke viii. 40-56 ; Mark v. 21-4.3 »" Matt. ix. 18-26. 

That whole day had been full of lofty teaching. 
It was to close with a stupendous miracle — the raising 
of a dead girl to life. 

The banquet was suddenly interrupted by the en- 
trance of a man of note, the ruler of the synagogue. 
His name was Jairus, and he was distracted with 
grief. "He fell down at the feet of Jesus, beseech- 



218 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



ing Him that He wouia come into his house, for he 
had an only daughter almost twelve years old, and she 
was dying." His haste, his sobs, his prominence in 
the city, his disregard of his reputation in entering 
the ' ' unclean ' ' company of the banquet, his prostra- 
tion at Jesus' feet, appealed to a heart always easily 



moved . 



My 






WHO HATH TOUCHED MY GARMENTS ? " 



daughter is at the point of death ; 
come, la3^ Thy hand upon her that she may be safe 
and may live." Willingly did Je- 
sus rise and follow him, the dis- 
ciples keeping Him compan3 T . 

As soon as He reached the street 
a great multitude surrounded Him 
— many had been waiting outside 
for hours, we may suppose, to get 
a sight of the wonder-worker, others 
had followed the ruler to the doors, 
and many more quickly ran up when 
the word was passed that the great 
prophet was to be seen. Among 
them was ' ' a woman having an is- 
sue of blood twelve years, who had 
bestowed all her substance on \>h.y- 
sicians and could not be healed." 
In those days medical treatment for 
such complaints was but uselessl}' 
added torment — she was only the 
worse for it. Besides this bodily 
evil, she was on account of it " un- 
clean ' ' according to the Mosaic law, 
divorced, perhaps, from her hus- 
band, and subjected to most bur- 
densome rules in her daily life. 
Her faith in Jesus was supreme. 
Dreading to reveal her misery in 



And as he was speaking these things 

■ unto them, behold there came a man whose 

name was Jairus, and he was a ruler of the 

synagogue : and he fell down at the feet of 

_ eseeching him that he would come 

• into his house. For he had an only daugh- 
ter almost twelve years old, and she was 

! dying. And he besought him much, say- 

1 v daughter is at the point of death ; 

I come, lay thy hand upon her, that she may 

be safe, and may live. And he went with 

him, and a great multitude followed him, 

and they thronged him. And there was a 

certain woman having an issue of blood 

I twelve years, who had bestowed all her 

' substance on physicians, and could not be 

. healed by any : who when she had heard of 

Jesus, came in the crowd behind him, and 

• touched his garment. For she said : If I 
! .shall touch but his garment, i shall be 
. whole. And forthwith the fountain of her 

olood was dried up, and she felt in her 
'■ body that she was healed of the evil. And 

• immediately Jesus knowing in himself the 
j virtue that had proceeded from him, turn- 
'■ ing to the multitude, said : Who hath 

touched my garments ? And all denying, 

' Peter and they that were with him said : 

I Master, the multitudes throng and press 

-nd dost thou say, W 7 ho touched 

( me ? And Jesus said : Somebody hath 

I touched me : for I know that virtue is gone 

out from me. But the woman fearing and 

trembling, knowing what was done in her, 

and seeing she was not hid, came and fell 

down before him, and told him all the 

truth, and declared before all the people 

for what cause she bad touched him, and 

how she was immediately healed. But 

Jesus seeing her, said : Be of good heart, 

daughter : thy faith hath made thee whole ; 

go thy way in peace. And the woman was 

made whole from that hour. 



I WOMAN CURED OF AN ISSUE OF BLOOD. 219 

' the presence of the crowd, and jostled roughly 
about by rude men, she yet persevered: "If I but 
I touch His garment, I shall be healed," she said 
j to herself. Watching her chance, she boldly pressed 
I into the cap of the human wave surging after Him, 
j and was thrust upon the Saviour from behind. 
i She clasped in her hand the hem of His garment, 
1 the zizith, or woollen fringe of His mantle. " She felt 
j in her body that she was healed of the evil ' ' ; 
1 strength, vigor, soundness, flowed into her, as per- 
1 ceptible as the pain and languor that a moment before 
oppressed her. As to Jesus, the touch of that hand 
I of faith had thrilled to His heart of love — she had 
stolen what He would gladly have given her. Halt- 
ing and turning to the multitude, He said: "Who 
hath touched My garments ? ' ' His tone was so 
solemn that utter silence followed ; but Jesus must 
force the recipient of His bounty to reveal herself. 
Peter exclaims : ' ' Master, the multitudes throng and 
press Thee, and dost Thou say, Who touched Me?" 
But He insisted: "Somebody hath touched Me, for 
I know that virtue hath gone out from Me," and His 
eye searched the silent faces gathered about Him. 
Meantime the woman, fearing and 
trembling, yet very grateful, was a prey 
to conflicting senti- 
ments. But she must 
be made to own the 
truth, for the purpose of 
Jesus was to show that her 
cure took place because in touching His 
garment she had touched His heart. 
She " fell down before Him," declared 
before all the people for what cause she 

, _*. , , , . "If I but touch his garment, I shall 

had touched Him, and how she was lm- be healed." 




220 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



mediately cured. But Jesus said : " Be of good heart, 
daughter : thy faith hath made thee whole ; go thy way 
in peace." Pious tradition records that this woman 
was the far-famed Veronica, otherwise Berenice, who, 
when Jesus was going to Calvary, braved both Jewish 
and Roman hate and stopped the sad procession, caring 
naught for the oaths and fury of the mob, and wiped 
the sweat and blood and dust from our Saviour's face. 
If the tradition be true, the divine picture left upon 
Veronica's towel is the authentic portrait of the Man 
of Sorrows, a pathetic legacy btqueathed to us by 
the hands of a woman in reward for woman's great 
faith and rnighty courage. 

But all this delayed the journey to the house of 
Jairus. Considerable time was consumed in the cure 
and its accompanying occurrences. The poor father 
must have more than once urged our Saviour to hasten 
on. And his anxiety was too well founded: "Thy 

daughter is 
dead," cried a 
hurried messen- 
ger — no use to 
trouble the Mas- 
ter further! 
The unhappy 
father was smit- 
ten as with a 
thunderbolt. It 
seemed as if 
death were some 
malignant ene- 
my of Jesus, who 
had tightened 
his fatal grasp 

MOURNING SCENE AT A HOUSE IN PALESTINE. and Snatched 




RAISING OF THE DAUGHTER OF J AIR US, 



221 




" The damsel is not dead, but sleepetn." 



away his victim lest the Saviour 
should rob him of his prey. " But 
Jesus, having heard the word that 
was spoken, saith to the ruler of 
the synagogue : Fear not, only be- 
lieve ' ' ; and to the crowd He gave 
orders to remain outside the house, 
for His plan was as much as pos- 
sible to lessen the public excite- 
ment. 

Peter, James, and John, privi- 
leged witnesses of His most amazing wonders, were 
selected to enter with the Master ; the mourners were 
already wailing, and as our Saviour and His disciples 
came into the stricken household the funereal flutes 
were playing dirges — which indi- 
cates the arrival of Jesus as being 
some time after the girl's death. 
Jesus showed surprise at all this 
1 ' tumult of people weeping and 
wailing," for He would teach us 
that death is not to be mourned 
over as an unmixed evil ; and also 
because He intended to bring the 
girl back to life. " Why make you 
this ado and weep ? The damsel is 
not dead, but sleepeth." It was a 
light sleep indeed to Him who could 
wake the dead with a gentle whis- 
per ; but to those who had seen the 
child's life fade out, and knew that 
her heart was still, and her pale lips 
felt no more the breath of life, His 
words were a mockery — ''they 
laughed Him to scorn." " But He, 



THE RULER'S DAUGHTER. 

While he was yet speaking, some came 
from the ruler of the synagogue's house, 
saying : Thy daughter is dead ; why dost 
thou trouble the Master any farther ? But 
Jesus, having heard the word that was 
spoken, saith to the ruler of the syna- 
gogue : Fear not, only believe. And he 
admitted not any man to follow him, but 
Peter, James, and John the brother of 
James. And they come to the house of the 
ruler of the synagogue ; and he seeth a 
tumult and people weeping and wailing 
much. And going in he saith to them : 
Why make you this ado and weep ? the 
damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they 
laughed him to scorn. But he having put 
them all out, taketh the father and the 
mother of the damsel, and them that were 
with him, and entereth in where the damsel 
was lying. And taking the damsel by the 
hand he saith to her : Talitha cumi, which 
is, being interpreted : Damsel, I say to 
thee, arise. And her spirit returned, and 
immediately the damsel rose up, and 
walked ; and she was twelve years old. 
And they were astonished with a great as- 
tonishment. And he charged them strictly 
that no man should know it, and command- 
ed that something should be given her to 
eat. 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



having put them all out, taketh the father and the 
mother of the damsel, and they that were with Him, 
and entereth in where the damsel was lying." There 
she la)' ready for the tomb. But the Lord of life and 
death takes her white, cold hand in His, and saith 
to her: " Talitha cumi, which is, being interpreted, 
Damsel, I say to thee arise." It is a command ad- 
dressed to a corpse, or rather to a disembodied spirit 
far off in the regions of death, yet given as a master 
commands a servant. In after times Peter told it 
in the original tongue to his disciple Mark, that he 
might convey to us the very accents of this awful 
power. And how great the astonishment at beholding 

terrible death meekly obedi- 
ent. "Her spirit returned, 
and immediately the damsel 
rose up and walked." Je- 
sus, who did not confine His 
charity to great gifts like 
life itself, bade them give 
her some food. 

He could not suppose that 
such a wonder as this could be 
kept secret: the Apostles pres- 
ent, the father, the mother, 
the expectant multitude 
would soon blaze it abroad. 
But He hoped to suppress the 
knowledge of it long enough 
to get away from the city, and 
so He charged them to keep 
it secret. He quickly passed 
out towards the lake, entered 
one of His disciples' boats, 
and escaped across the water. 




! FINAL CALLING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 223 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE FINAL CALLING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 
Matt. x. 2-4. ; Acts i. ij ; Mark Hi. 13-iQ ; 
Luke vi. 12-16. 
So far the Church of Christ was 
in an inchoate condition. His fol- 
lowers had gathered to Him as emi- 
grant families go into a new country, 
to live in their wagons and under 
trees and tents. But now our 
Saviour must show Himself a king 
and proceed to the organization and 
enrollment of His subjects. He is 
not a teacher only ; He is a founder. 
The union of His redeemed children 
with Himself is organic, and makes 
a new kind of life in God's world, 
that of His Church. We shall see 
Him likening it to a vine with its branches ; to a 
house with its foundations and its superstructure of 
walls and doors and windows and 
roof; to a net with its fishermen 
and its many kinds of fish ; to a 
woman's batch of dough with its 
leaven ; to a banquet with its host 
and guests and steward ; to a flock 
of sheep with its good shepherd ; 
but especially and always He names 
it and makes it a kingdom. The 
public property of this common- 
wealth of God shall be the good 
done by one to another, the love 
that is the breath of life in the com- 
pany of Jesus ; as also shall be its 




THE TWELVE. 

And it came to pass in those days that he 
went out into a mountain to pray, and he 
passed the whole night in the prayer of 
God. And when day was come, he called 
unto him his disciples , whom he would 
himself, and they came to him. And he 
made that twelve should be with him, and 
that he might send them to preach (whom 
also he named Apostles), Simon whom 
he surnamed Peter, and Andrew his broth- 
er, and James the son of Zebedee, and 
John the brother of James, and he called 
them Boanerges, which is the sons of 
thunder; Philip and Bartholomew, Mat- 
thew the publican and Thomas, James the 
son of Alpheus, and Simon the Cananean, 
who is called Zelotes, and Jude [or] Thad- 
deus the brother of James, and Judas 
Iscariot, who was the traitor. And he 
gave them power to heal sicknesses and to 
cast out devils. 




ST. ANDREW 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

faith, safeguarded by a divine order of men 
to rule the household, to draw and mend the 
net, to prune the vine, to provide guests for 
the banquet — that is to say, to teach the truth, 
to detect error and to condemn it, to order all 
things sweetly in His Church, to hand down 
the original good custom. This will make 
Christ's gift to men continuous, as men singly 
are but momentary ; universal, as men and 
their nations are but fragments. And there- 
fore the Master publicly sets apart His Apos- 
tles from His other followers, and bestows 
upon them His own authority. Several of 
them He had called before on two separate 
occasions, and the others He had, no doubt, 
similarly selected and tested, as 
Holy Church has ever since done 
in her choice of men for the apos- 
tolic ministry. And now He pre- 
pares for the final act. 

Jesus made ready for institut- 
ing His Apostolate by spending 
a " whole night in the prayer of 
God. And when day was come, 
He called unto Him His disciples. 
And He made that twelve should 
be with Him, and that He might 
send them to preach, whom also 
He named Apostles." Hereto- 
fore it was men and women, and 
crowds of them, coming and going, 

seeking and finding and losing Jesus. But from now 
on to be with an Apostle is to know where and 
when and how to secure the full presence of Jesus. 
That this might be, He pays His filial homage to 




ST. SIMON. 



FINAL CALLING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 225 



His Father all the night long in the prayer of God's 
Spirit, without whose guidance He undertook nothing. 
The vast importance of this step was fitly shown by 
this long prayer of our Saviour. In the morning 
the general discipleship, the mingled friends and ad- 
herents, new-comers and old, were called into solemn 
assembly to hear the names of the Apostles, names by 
which prince and beggar shall be christened in all 
civilized humanity till the end of time. 

Among the Apostles there was one whom Jesus 
appointed to be leader. This leader's name was 
changed from Simon to The Rock by design, for he 
was to be made the corner-stone. His close asso- 
ciates, the brothers John and James of Zebedee, knew 
the Master and believed in Him before Peter, and 
were His seniors in the preliminary vocation at the 
Jordan ; John also was the more beloved ; Andrew 
was the very first disciple called. Yet Simon Peter was 
given the special office, the peculiar primacy, which 
was to be that fountain of perpetuity and that 
centre of unity which the Holy Ghost estab- 
lished in the Roman Bishopric. Peter was a 
genuine Galilean. He was brave without pru- 
dence ; he was ever starting something new ; 
he it was who generally spoke first, moving 
ahead of the others — a true, rough, untamed 
Galilean. He was destined to be tamed by 
the sad revelation of his own weakness, God's 
usual way of taming chosen souls. 

Of the disciples thus elevated to the Apos- 
tleship, the greater number, after the coming 
of the Holy Ghost, vanished away into heath- 
endom to convert and save it, and only local 
traditions, in various parts of the world, give 
us glimmerings of their career. Andrew was 




226 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




the eldest born unto Christ of the whole band, 
having made his novieeship with the Baptist. 
Of the sons of Zebedee, James and John, Sons 
of Thunder as our Saviour styled them to 
show their electric fire. John was the heir of 
Jesus and our representative under the Cross 
in the bestowal of His mother"s love. He was 
the drinker- in of Jesus' words, and their chron- 
icler in the sublimest writings ever penned 
by man. These two. with Peter, were cho- 
sen by Jesus to be witnesses oi the raising of 
the daughter of Jairus to life, of the Trans- 
figuration, and of the Agony in the Garden. 
James was the first of them who entered the 
gate of heaven, being the pioneer of Apostolic 
5T f jude. martyrdom ; and John closed the glorious line 

on a peaceful bed, and closed also 

the narrative of redemption by 

his marvellous vision of the 

Heavenly City. 

Philip, so early called, was that ,-cf 

true friend to Bartholomew (origi- 

nally named Xathanael), whom he 

brought to the Messias. Both 

were very familiar with Jesus, es- 
pecially Philip. 

Matthew, or Levi, the collector 

of the Roman tax, names himself 

in his list as " the publican." At 

the word of command he arose 

without a moment's hesitation, 

and gave up all and followed Jesus. True Jew, even 

though he had been a publican, he gave the new 

religion its first inspired book, in which he shows the 

links of the old law with the new, and tells, chiefly 




ST. JOH>'. 



FINAL CALLING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 227 

in this spirit, of the active life and wondrous deeds 
of the Messias. 

Thomas the Doubter is a great figure among the 
twelve ; a reasoner, a questioner, slow to believe, a 
searcher of difficulties, but a type of the many honest 
minds in all ages who do not readily believe but are 
invincible in the faith when at last they accept it. 

James (the less or younger), and Jude his brother, 
were sons of Cleophas, who was either himself the 
brother of Joseph, or whose wife was the sister of 
Mary or of Joseph. These two, their brother Josas 
or Joseph, and their sisters, were called brothers and 
sisters of the IyOrd. An only child like Jesus was 
thus complimented by Hebrew custom. Jude, also 
called Lebbe, and again Thaddeus (to distinguish 
him from the apostate Judas) , must have been a man 
of deep enthusiasm, to judge him from his fiery 
Epistle. His brother James was for thirty-seven years 
Bishop of Jerusalem, a powerful advocate, at the coun- 
cil of the Apostles, of St. Paul's policy towards the 
Gentiles and of his revelations, a perfect echo in 
his far-famed Epistle of many essential points of 
Christ's teaching. 

Simon the Zealous had been probably a partici- 
pant in the insurrection which had taken place 
some years previously, and named that of the 
Zealots for the law. If this be true, it shows that % 
our Saviour was not unwilling to favor even an ex- 
treme type of Hebrew patriotism, as long as it was 
not Pharisaical. 

Finally, there is Judas Iscariot, mentioned in the 
holy narrative only by compulsion, the dark shadow 
in this pictured group of heroes. What made him 
an Apostle ? Did he force himself into the company 
and on to the acceptance of Jesus, from the start 




ST. JAMES. 



228 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




ST. THOMAS. 



a thief and a traitor ? Rather, he was first honest 
in his attachment. But there is no vice so killing 
as avarice, though there are others more sudden 
in their stabs. Judas Iscariot has dignified 
avarice by making its product the traitor of all 
human history. How could Jesus ever choose 
him? It is a mystery. We can only suppose 
that in this case the ordinary rule prevailed ; as 
in other cases so in this, the Master used His 
human means of information only, the divine 
\ knowledge remaining suspended and apart.* 
Judas was a man of affairs, "carried the purse," 
Was the necessary procurator of the little band. 
And his treason, if it wrecked his own salvation, 
was made one powerful means of the salvation 
of the world. 

It is seen that Jesus mingled 
in His Apostolate the most in- 
congruous elements, mingled them 
together in a union oi love so 
strong as to blend them into one 
heart and one soul : they quar- 
relled often, but always to be made 
brethren again. He chose an un- 
pardoned rebel against the Roman 
tyranny and a gatherer of the 
Roman tax ; the strong and calm 
and ever faithful John and the 
impetuous and backsliding Peter ; 




*St. John says (v. 65), that "Jesus knew from the beginning who 
they were that did not believe and who he was that would betray Him." 
What is here meant by the words " from the beginning " ? Do they mean 
that Jesus knew Judas would betray Him when He first chose him as a 
member of the band ? Or does it mean that He knew his evil intention 
the first moment he harbored it ? The latter seems to us to be altogether 
the most probable meaning. 



FINAL CALLING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 229 



Jude the enthusiast and Thomas the doubter; James 
the contemplative ascetic is a high official among 
the most restless and roving of missionary bands. 
One requisite of a fully equipped Church alone 
is lacking — a man of intellectual culture. But Jesus 
will supply that want in the learned Scribe, Saul of 
Tarsus, to become in various ways the most notable 
of all the Apostles and the most like the Master in 
the gift of persuasion. 

And now the work of Jesus is not simply teach- 
ing divine truth, it is the making a new people ; 
the Kingdom of God is formed. The new dispensa- 
tion is both an interior condition of faith and right- 
eousness and an external order and government of 
men; it is a living organism, with its own pecu- 
liar corporate life flowing out from and into the 
divine human life of Christ. With this the Re- 
deemer became inseparably identified. Travelling 
back and forth, teaching the people, working 
miracles, disputing with enemies, the Apostles 
were always with Him. His relation to them was 
essentially superior to His relation to others. To 
instruct them — how very greatly they needed it is 
always evident — became His especial work. All 
were of that "class" which our Saviour evan- 
gelized with so much joy, the working class ; 
but they became the masterpieces of His grace, 
the messengers of His truth and of His salvation 
to the entire world. They were the first officers 
in His everlasting kingdom. 




ST. MATTHEW. 




230 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 

I. — THE BEATITUDES. 

Matt. v. 1-48, and vi. 1-34, and vii. 1-29 ; 
Luke vi. 17-49, and xii. 22-59. 

the choice of the Twelve Apostles the Church 
is organized ; it is to be made alive by the teaching 
of truth. The Church may be compared to a tree ; 
the external organization is like the bark and the 
wood ; the sap is the doctrine of Christ. Some of this 
doctrinal instruction had already been given, most 
of it remained to be so, and Jesus leads His Apostles 
apart into a favorable locality where, seated on a hill- 
side, He preaches to them and to the multitudes His 
greatest discourse — the Sermon on the Mount. He 
is anxious that men should know what to believe, 
how to think rightly, and thereby have right ways 
of action. He is mankind's guide to right. It would 
have sounded strange if one had said in His company, 
"It makes no difference what a man believes as long 
as he follows the Saviour." The peculiar action of 
man as such is his thinking. Jesus would set that 
right for all men and for ever by teaching the one 
true doctrine and entrusting it to His one true Church. 
St. Iyuke gives us a brief abstract of this discourse, 
St. Matthew a more extended account. We cannot 
know how long it took our Saviour to deliver it, 
but we may reasonably suppose that He dropped and 
resumed it several times, and that what is only a 
short paragraph in the Gospel summary may possibly 
have taken an hour for its full delivery. St. Luke 
says that " Coming down He stood in a level place" 
— that is, a plateau formed in a hilly place, shown to 



THE BEA TITUDES. 



231 



travellers in our day, some distance back 
from the way northward along the lake shore 
and called the Mount of the Beatitudes. 
Many hold the opinion that St. Luke's ver- 
sion is an account of a repetition of the Ser- 
mon on the Mount at another time and 
place. At any rate, the two discourses are 
one in substance. The following is St. 
Luke's introductory account : " And coming 
down with them, He stood in a plain place, 
and the company of His disciples, and a very great 
multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and 
the sea-coast both of Tyre and Sidon, who were come 
to hear Him, and to be healed of their diseases. And 
they that were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 
And all the multitude sought to touch Him, for virtue 
went out from Him and healed all. And lifting up His 
eyes on His disciples," He opened His discourse. 

Jesus, according to His custom, passed the night 
in prayer, secluded in a higher spot among the hills, 
and when He had come down from His solitude He 
chose His Apostles, as we have seen. Seldom had 
so vast a multitude been assembled about Him, or 
one so representative in its composition, as greeted 
Him that morning. Towards the outer edges of this 
open-air temple are many fragments of rock, which 
were very convenient seats for the more distant audi- 
tors, many of whom deserved well of Him, for they 
had journeyed far to hear and see the Messias : "A 
very great multitude of people from all Judea and 
Jerusalem, and the sea-coast both of Tyre and Sidon." 
St. Matthew adds to these the people from Galilee, 
in the heart of which province He was teaching, and 
from beyond the Jordan. There were Jews and their 
converts from every section of Israel, and pagans 




THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 



235 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



THE BEATITUDES. 

And seeing the multitudes, he went up 
into a mountain, and when he was set 
down, his disciples came unto him. And 
opening his mouth he taught them, saying : 
Blessed are the poor in spirit : for theirs is 
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the 
meek: for they shall possess the land. 
Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall 
be comforted. Blessed are they that hun- 
ger and thirst after justice : for they shall 
have their fill. Blessed are the merciful : 
for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are 
the clean of heart : for they shall see God. 
Blessed are the peace-makers : for they 
shall be called the children of God Bless- 
ed are they that suffer persecution for 
justice' sake : for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven. Blessed are ye when they shall 
revile you and persecute you, and speak 
all that is evil against you, untruly, for* my 
sake. Be glad and rejoice, for your re- 
ward is very great in heaven. For so they 
persecuted the prophets that were before 
you. 



of all sorts. They crowned the 
plateau with a great circle of hu- 
manity ; nearer to the centre was a 
smaller one of the men who had 
been more or less habitually in the 
company of Jesus, and were known 
as disciples ; and then the newly 
chosen Twelve Apostles had the 
place of honor at His feet. It was 
a moment of joy to our Saviour. It 
was like the first rough sketch of 
an artist's masterpiece, revealing 
the picture's inspiration and inviting 
a more perfect working out of de- 
tails. Here is His Church in out- 
line, the clergy in its bishops and 
priests, the beloved people gathered 
close about them, and His own revered and adored 
Self, teaching them with heavenly power. 

What strikes us first and last in the Sermon on 
the Mount is its reversal of all human wisdom. 
Men seek happiness, or in other words to be 
blessed, by means of wealth, personal author- 
ity, bodily comfort, the subdual of enemies, 
the applause of the multitude. The Eight 
Beatitudes of Jesus Christ, or eight roads to 
joy, are a startling contradiction to all this. 
It is not the rich who are blessed, but the 
poor : the heart that loves God and man bet- 
ter than riches is the kingly heart. The 
yielding and kindly spirit of meekness is lord 
of all — as you crush the fragile flow T er its de- 
licious fragrance overpowers you. Force con- 
quers, but sweetness wins. Force is hateful 
"Blessed are the poor in spirit." in its coming and bitter in its memories ; kind- 




THE BEA TITUDES. 



233 



ness is ever welcome, is never followed by remorse nor 
leaves shame behind. But how strange : ' ' Blessed are 
they that mourn"! Christ has made a sacrament of 
tears. The bitterness of repentance is the rind of the 
delicious fruit of reconciliation to God. Then comes a 
blessing on the holy fire of longing after righteous- 
ness, a fiery hunger and thirst, not to devour this 
world's comforts and honors, but to possess God 
as men possess their bodily nourishment. We know 
not what promise made in all His life is so gracious 
as this one of Jesus, that every man and woman 
longing after God with hunger and thirst of soul 
shall be filled with God — with knowledge of God, 
confidence in Qod, love of God, intimate, person- 
al, sensible union with God. 

And now He promises the reward of kind- 
ness ; to do good to men is to receive good from 
God ; to be merciful to men is to be pitied one's 
self by God. Though the easiest virtue for a 
noble soul is to pardon an enemy, yet Jesus re- 
wards it abundantly ; it wins what every soul longs 
to be sure of possessing — God's pardon of sin. 

The Master also tells us how men may see God. 
It is by innocence of life, either original or re- 
stored. Knowledge gained by seeing and that 
gained by reasoning are different. In a soul free from 
vice both are joined, the second being the handmaid 
of the first. What we see we know. A foul heart 
gives forth a vapor which veils the mind's eyes, but 
a pure heart is surrounded by a crystal medium. 
The innocent or the pardoned soul sees God and 
God's loving promises in everything. The sinful 
soul could not find Him in heaven itself. 

Peace-makers are praised ; whom do we love so 
well as those who, even as mere onlookers, are pained 




" Blessed are they that 
mourn." 



234 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



when we quarrel more than we are ourselves, and 
whose soft voices plead ever for peace. The peace 
of God is their gift to us, and they own it as chil- 
dren own their father's love. 

Jesus then affixes to His Church and her mem- 
bers the badge of suffering. The soul that stands 
for truth is glad of the honor of doing so ; but it 
must also learn how to be glad for the obloquy, 
the stripes, the martyrdom of truth. " Blessed are 
they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs 
is the kingdom of heaven ; blessed are ye when men 
shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say 
all manner of evil against you untruly, for My sake ; 
be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great 
in heaven." 

From that day to this the public and private study 
of the Beatitudes is not only the devotional but also 
the intellectual occupation of Christ's people — it is 
His school, college, university, doctorate, and gradua- 
tion into all Christian proficiency. The Church can- 
not save men otherwise than by teaching and train- 
ing them to obtain happiness in this way. 

The humble, yielding, patient, suffering, deprived, 
calumniated, loving Christian is the citizen of 
the Kingdom of God — the citizen-soldier, the 
citizen-professor, the citizen-beggar, the citizen- 
prince. L,et the Church flourish by any other 
means, let there be but a single generation in 
which she wins men to her truth and righteous- 
\%n ess by anything except self-sacrifice, kind- 
^MJfo*^ ness, sorrow, poverty, meek- 

ness, and the result is that in 
the succeeding generation she 
sloughs off all she had gained 
together with much she had 




u Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after 
justice." 



THE BEA TITUDES. 



235 



possessed before, now gangrened by evil 
association. When Jesus taught all this 
it seemed a foolish reversal of the true re- 
lation of things. And so did and yet does 
seem the Cross. But it pleased God to 
save the world by the folly of the Cross. 
The theory of Jesus as to what makes men 
happy and blessed, as given in the Sermon 
on the Mount, is like some language foreign 
to our own, and not easily mastered, nor, 
once mastered, easily retained except by daily 
practice ; yet it is only proficients in that 
language who may converse with the angels. 
St. L,uke adds a portion of the Sermon 
omitted by St. Matthew. It must, we think, 
be inserted after the Beatitudes, for it is their affirmations 
strengthened by the condemnation of their negatives. 
Terrible words ! Amazing boldness ! Sovereign majesty 
of this Ruler of wayward hearts ! ' ' But woe to you 
that are rich, for you have your consolation. Woe 
to you that are filled, for you shall hunger. Woe to 
you that now laugh, for you shall mourn and weep. 
Woe to you when men shall bless you, for according 
to these things did their fathers to the false prophets.' ' 
Every Beatitude must have its contrary, its maledic- 
tion. Contrast these affirmatives and negatives as 
Christ promulgates them, and you have the yes and 
no of all happiness and misery. Bitter grief is es- 
sentially joined with striving after riches and power 
and bodily enjoyment and the praises of men. But 
how startling a doctrine to our fallen race is this ! 
L,et any man who stands for Christ undertake to 
preach this doctrine with however much discretion, 
however sweetened with heavenly kindness, and He 
will soon suffer persecution of some sort or other. 




Blessed are the peace-makers." 



236 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



THE SALT OF THE EARTH. 
YOU are the salt of the earth. But if the 
salt lose its savor, wherewith shall it be 
salted ? It is good for nothing any more 
but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by 
men. You are the light of the world. A 
City seated on a mountain cannot be hid. 
Ne'ither do men light a candle and put it 
under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, 
that it may shine to all that are in the 
house. So let your light shine before men, 
that they may see your good works, and 
glorify your Father who is in heaven. 




Blessed are they who suf- 
fer persecution.' 



Indeed the representative of 
Christ must be on his guard, lest 
he become more anxious for discre- 
tion and for kindness than for the 
integrity of his principles. Be 
he parent, friend, priest, or pon- 
tiff, his main purpose must be to 
stand firmly if kindly upon his prin- 
ciples, or he will lose his force as a 
teacher. Our Saviour compares His disciples to salt, 
whose power to preserve depends upon its sharp and bit- 
ter flavor. He also compares the Church to a luminary 
in the sky shining upon the whole world, its rays being 
the principles of love, of detachment from earthly joys, 
of gentle peace and forgiveness. But He would have 
us take these truths home ; and therefore He makes 
them the homely candle upon the candlestick of the 
family circle. He looks into the future family of 
Christian nations and beholds His Church as the mid- 
day sun of their civilization, and He gives His bless- 
ing to a new social order, in which the Christian 
home is made happy by Christian self-denial and 
Christian family affection. In this, especially, He 
emphasizes the great truth of the constitution of the 
Church as a public body, an institution among insti- 
tutions, superior to all others ; also as a personal 
religion, an individual trait so powerful as to form 
character and create the deepest personal loveliness 
known to humanity. " So let your light shine 
before men," He insists, "that they may see 
your good works, and glorify your Father who 
is in Heaven." 



OF FORGIVENESS; CHASTITY; MARRIAGE. 237 

CHAPTER XXIII.— Continued. 

2. — WESSONS OF FORGIVENESS J OF CHASTITY ; MAR- 
RIAGE AND DIVORCE. 




HEN Jesus looked backward upon the 
1! Old L,aw, the venerable system of 
morality given by His Father to Moses, and He saluted 
it, not in farewell but in reward of merit, as being now 
merged into the new: " Do not think that I am come 
to destroy the law or the prophets ; I am not come to 
destroy but to fulfil. For amen I say unto you, till 
heaven and earth pass not one jot or tittle shall pass till 
all be fulfilled. He therefore that shall break one of 
these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall 
be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven ; but he 
that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the 
Kingdom of Heaven." This, He made sure, should 
not be mistaken as approval of the legalism of the 
Pharisees, nor as referring to the ceremonial ob- 
servances of the law, but to its principles. Hence 
He added: "For I tell you that unless your justice 
abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, 
you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." 
The rabbis had narrowed men's view ; Jesus would 
widen it beyond every horizon. He would go to the 
roots of life and fertilize them with a law of love, to 
sanctify not only our conduct but our thoughts, our 
most secret motives. 

' ' You have heard that it was said to them of old, 
Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill 
be guilty of the Judgment. But I say to you 
that whosoever is angry with his brother shall 
be guilty of the Judgment. ' ' Our gentle Sav- « Blessed are the meek^ 




238 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



iour does not mean that quarrelsome words shall be 
made the food of inextinguishable fire — by no means. 
But rather that the lightest expression of a deadly hate 
shall be punished as if the hater had actually glutted 
himself with blood. Guilt is of the heart, not of the lips 
or hand — an admonition well-timed, because the Jews of 
that day hated each other unto frenzy. He bade them 
leave their sacrifices unfinished, and 
' ' go and be reconciled ' ' to their 
enemies first. He added the penalty 
of refusal : ' ' L,est perhaps the ad- 
versary deliver thee to the judge, 
and the judge deliver thee to the 
officer, and thou be cast into prison ; 
amen I say to thee, thou shalt not 
go out from thence till thou repay 
the last farthing." Death drags the 
culprit into the divine court, in 
which even a wilful aversion, or a 
harbored dislike against our neigh- 
bor, must be atoned for in the 
cleansing sorrows of purgatory. 
Now follow lessons of purity. The 
Christian's chastity must be an interior quality and 
adorn his very soul : ' - You have heard that it was said 
to them of old, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I 
say to you, whosoever shall look on a woman to lust 
after her, hath already committed adultery with her 
in his heart." The antidote against inward vice is 
inward hatred of its occasions, shown by the surgeon's 
treatment of an infected member of the body. ''And 
if thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and 
cast it from thee." How truly does our Saviour's way 
agree with men's experience, which teaches that in 
the moral order fire alone can fight fire, passionate 



OUR SAVIOUR S CODE OF RECONCILIA- 
TION. 

You have heard that it was said to them 
of old : Thou shalt not kill. And whoso- 
ever shall kill, shall be in danger of the 
judgment. But I say to you, that who- 
soever is angry with his brother, shall be 
in danger of the judgment. And whoso- 
ever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall 
be in danger of the council. And whoso- 
ever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in dan- 
ger of hell fire. If therefore thou offer 
thy gift at the altar, and there thou re- 
member that thy brother hath anything 
against thee : leave there thy offering be- 
fore the altar, and go first to be recon- 
ciled to thy brother, and then coming thou 
shalt offer thy gift. Be at agreement with 
thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in 
the way with him ; lest perhaps the ad- 
versary deliver thee to the judge, and the 
judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou 
be cast into prison. Amen I say to thee, 
thou shalt not go out from thence till thou 
repay the last farthing. 



OF FORGIVENESS; CHASTITY; MARRIAGE. 



239 



indulgence is conquered only by 
passionate hatred of sin and of what- 
ever causes it. How many poor 
souls have admitted the wisdom of 
this holy violence only when it was 
too late to profit by it ! 

The Master passes from the sub- 
ject of illicit love to that of lawful 
marriage : the right of divorce, 
yielded originally to human weak- 
ness, is now withdrawn in the era of 
strong self-control. " I say to you, 
that whosoever shall put away his 
wife, excepting the cause of fornica- 
tion, maketh her to commit adul- 
tery, and he that shall marry her that is put away 
committeth adultery." The foul crime of adultery 
justifies separation. But does it permit the in- 
jured party to marry again ? Some erroneously 
believe so. There is no manner of permission for 
it in these words, which treat only of the guilty 
party. Jesus shall return again to this critical 
subject and more fully establish the entire indis- 
solubility of the marriage bond — almost destroyed 
by the various causes for total divorce intro- 
duced by the rabbis in addition to those permitted 
by Moses. 



CHASTITY AS AN INTERIOR VIRTUE. 

You have heard that it was said to them 
of old : Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
But I say to you, that whosoever shall 
look on a woman to lust after her, hath 
already committed adultery with her in his 
heart. And if thy right eye scandalize 
thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. 
For it is expedient for thee that one of thy 
members should perish, rather than thy 
whole body be cast into hell. And if thy 
right hand scandalize thee, cut it off, and 
cast it from thee : for it is expedient for 
thee that one of thy members should perish, 
rather than that thy whole body go into 
hell. And it hath been said, Whosoever 
shall put away his wife, let him give her a 
bill of divorce. But I say to you, that 
whosoever shall put away his wife, ex- 
cepting the cause of fornication, maketh 
her to commit adultery : and he that shall 
marry her that is put away, committeth 
adultery. 




" Blessed are the clean 
of heart." 



240 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 





CHAPTER XXIII.— Continued. 

3. — MODERATION IN SPEECH \ LOVE OF ENEMIES. 

ROFAXE and idle swearing had grown to be a 
common evil among the Jews. Jesus would re- 
prove it, condemn it, remedy it, and He is so 
strenuous against it that He seems to suspend 
even the natural right of taking an oath for grave and 
just reasons. Especially vain oaths and vows are 
whollv condemned, specimens of which the Master gives. 
But it would be an exaggeration to say that the Lord 
totally and for ever prohibited calling God to witness to 
the truth of one's assertions on solemn occasions — 
something wholly lawful when done with proper safe- 
guards. He countenanced lawful oath-taking when at 
His trial He answered the adjuration of the High- 
Priest ; and St. Paul more than once strengthens his 
teaching by calling God to witness its truth. Our Lord 
strikes at the excess, not at the reasonable use of oaths. 
He is, besides, a foe to all trickiness of speech and 
of manner, equivocations and petty deceptions. He 
loves the candid, open character, whose even* sentence 
can instantly be known for yes or no as to the matter 
in hand. The Christian should be above conversa- 
tional duplicities of any kind. Frankness, simplicity, 
directness of speech are character- 
istic of Christ's spirit in our dealings 
with each other. 

Under figures of speech, a style 
familiar to the Orientals whom He 
addressed, our Saviour again en- 
forces the holy virtue of meekness. 
Practise His rule to the very letter, 
and you are His favorite child ; but 
to its spirit, at least, must all hold 



"let your speech be yea, yea; no, 
no." 
Again, you have heard that it was said to 
them of old, Thou shalt 7iot forswear j 
thyself : but thou shalt perform thy oaths] 
to the Lord. But I sziy to you not to swear j 
at all, neither by heaven, for it is the throne ! 
of God : nor by the earth, for it is his j 
footstool : nor by Jerusalem, for it is the i 
city of the great king. Neither shalt thou 
swear by thy head, because thou canst not 
make one hair white or black. But let your 
speech be yea, yea ; no, no : and that which 
is over and above these is of evil. 



MODERA T10N IN SPEECH; LO VE OF ENEMIES. 241 



fast in the quick and full forgiveness of injuries. M You 
have heard that it hath been said : An eye for an 
eye, a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you not to 
resist evil ; but if one strike thee on thy right cheek, 
turn to him the other also. And if a man contend 
with thee in judgment* and take away thy coat, let 
go thy cloak also unto him." A direct disap- 
proval of all lawsuits, except those maintained 
against one's will.* 

And here follow words of renown. When the 
Son of God roused men's souls to the love of their 
enemies His power surpassed the waking of the dead. 
No miracles ever drew so many souls to the true re- 
ligion as the practice of this virtue, first taught man- 
kind by Jesus, put into His prayer on the Cross for 
His murderers, and always uttered by Christian 
martyrs for their executioners. " I say to you, love 
your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and 
pray for them that persecute and calumniate you, that 
you may be the children of your Father who is in 
Heaven, who maketh His sun to rise upon the good 
and bad, and raineth upon the just and unjust." 
This, He claims, is the peculiar virtue of His fol- 
lowers: "For if you love them that love you, what 
reward shall you have ? do not even the publicans 
this?" 

* " And this is what Jesus so often inculcated on us : ' If a man will 
contend with thee in judgment and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak 
also unto him' (Matt. v. 40). I am in no respect superstitious, and 
I do not at all blame those who do go to law, provided that it is in 
truth, discretion, and justice ; but I say, I cry out, I write, and if need 
were I would write it in my blood, that whoever would be perfect, and al- 
together a child of Jesus Christ crucified, must practise this doctrine of our 
Lord. Let the world murmur, let human prudence raise its eyebrows in 
scorn, as it pleases ; let all the wise ones of the age invent as many 
evasions, pretexts, and excuses as they will ; this word is to be preferred to 
all prudence : ' He that will take away^thy coat, let go thy cloak also 
unto him " {Letters of St. Francis de Sales). 




"Be ye therefore 

perfect, as your 

Heavenly Father 

is perfect." 



242 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST 



" LOVE YOUR ENEMIES." 

You have heard that it hath been said : 
An eve for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. 
But I say to you not to resist evil : but if 
one strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to 
him also the other. And if a man will con- 
tend with thee in judgment and take away 
thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him. 
And whosoever will force thee one mile, go 
with him other two. Give to him that 
asketh of thee, and from him that would 
borrow of thee turn not away ; of him that 
taketh away thy goods, ask them not again. 
You have heard that it hath been said, 
Thou shaft love thy neighbor ; and hate thy 
enemy. But I say to you, Love your ene- 
mies, do good to them that hate you : and 
pray for them that persecute and calum- 
niate you : that you may be the children 
of your Father who is in heaven, who 
maketh his sun to rise upon the good and 
bad, and raineth upon the just and the un- 
just. For if you love them that love you, 
what reward shall you have ? do not even 
the publicans this ? And if you do good to 
them who do good to you, what thanks are 
to you ? for sinners also do this. And if 
ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, 
what thanks are to you ? for sinners also 
lend to sinners, for to receive as much. 
Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing 
thereby : and your reward shall be great, 
and you shall be the sons of the highest : 
for he is kind to the unthankful, and to the 
evil. And if you salute your brethren only, 
what do you more ? do not also the heath- 
ens this ? Be you therefore perfect, as also 
your heavenly Father is perfect. Be ye 
therefore merciful, as your Father also is 
merciful. 



11 Be you therefore perfect, as 
also your heavenly Father is per- 
fect." Who after this can exag- 
gerate the dignity of man, or over- 
rate his vocation to perfection ? 
There are, no doubt, different voca- 
tions of souls, some called to a 
higher, others to a less elevated 
grade of holiness. But all thought 
of grades and classes and states 
fades away as we mingle with our 
Lord's audience, — this crowd of men 
and women and children, the learn- 
ed scribe and the dull ploughman, 
the chosen twelve and the unsifted 
many, and hear Jesus call each and 
all of them to be heroes of God. 
Let us always bring out the main 
thing in Jesus' teaching : God's 
perfection of love is every man's 
standard. Let us emphasize that 
as common property. The particu- 
lar inspirations of God's Spirit in 
the individual soul will take care 
of the rest. 




23$ *«*-« 




' 




OSTENTA TION IN RELIGION. 243 



CHAPTER XXIII.— Continued. 

4. — AGAINST OSTENTATION IN RELIGION ; LESSONS IN 
PRAYER. 

OW to acquire this perfection, how to 
love and to pray, to be subject and 
to forgive — what is the spirit and the 
method of such holy living ? Jesus 
keeps on with His instruction. Having 
warned us against shrinking away in 
nervous timidity, insisting that we must 
be worthy children of God our Father, He now 
cautions us against the opposite extreme of vain- 
glory : " Take heed that you do not your justice 
before men to be seen of them, otherwise you shall 
not have a reward of your Father who is in Heaven. 
When thou dost an alms, let not thy left hand know 
what thy right hand doth, that thy alms may be in 
secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will re- 
pay thee." 

Ostentation is not edification. If one's office calls 
for good example, publicity in well-doing is in the 
line of duty ; the same also in private station, when 
Providence points that way. But the inner service 
is the essential one, and that must be for God's eye 
only. Form your intention for God alone, however 
you may shape your conduct for men's behoof. 

The same test applies in prayer. Family prayer, 
presence at public worship, membership in devout 
societies, are very praiseworthy, placing the light 
on the candlestick for the sake of the whole house 
of God. Yet the true Christian's spirit has its in- 
ner shrine : ' ' When thou shalt pray enter into thy 
chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy 




Pray to thy Father 
in secret." 




244 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Father in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret 
will repay thee." Here follows an admonition direct- 
ed to those who would calculate their worthiness in the 
way that men balance account books, and expect merit 
according to arithmetical computation: "And when 
you are praying, speak not much, as the heathens; 
for they think that in their much speaking they 
Hypocriteswho love may be heard." Hence the true prayer is not rated 
the ta co d rne n rs o? y the b > T the time occu P ied or the number of words recited, 
street. b u t by reverent fear of God, by loving submission, 

by entire confidence. The outer 
part should be characterized by the 
inner. Formalism is a constant dan- 
ger, and some whose lips are full of 
prayer, are really prayerless in soul. 
Yet our Saviour is by no means 
opposed to stated forms of prayer, 
for He immediately gives us one, the 
Lord's Prayer. No reasonable man 
lives but he orders his life ; no true 
Christian prays but he has his set 
forms of prayer, the supreme one 
being now instituted. No prayer so 
perfect as this one, none less liable 
to formalism in its constant repeti- 
tion, none so true a cure-all for hu- 
man affliction — a very sacrament of 
prayer. Many books have been 
written to explain it, and yet every- 
body can understand it. It is the 
first prayer taught the Christian 
child after the sign-prayer of the 
Cross, it is the last one forgotten 
by the Christian sinner; it is pub 
licly uttered in the most solemn 



HOW TO PRACTISE VIRTUE AND HOW TO 
PRAY. 

Take heed that you do not your justice 
before men, to be seen by them : otherwise 
you shall not have a reward of your Father 
who is in heaven. Therefore when thou 
dost an alms-deeds, sound not a trumpet 
before thee, as the hypocrites do in the 
synagogues and in the streets, that they 
may be honored by men. Amen 1 say to 
you, they have received their reward. But 
when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand 
know what thy right hand doth : that thy 
alms may be in secret, and thy Father who 
seeth in secret will repay thee. And when 
ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, 
that love to stand and pray in the syna- 
gogues and corners of the streets, that they 
may be seen by men : Amen I say to you, 
they have received their reward. But thou 
when thou shalt pray, enter into thy cham- 
ber, and having shut the door, pray to thy 
Tather in secret : and thy Father who seeth 
in secret will repay thee. And when you 
are praying, speak not much, as the hea- 
thens. For they think that in their much 
speaking they may be heard. Be not you 
therefore like to them, for your Father 
knoweth what is needful for you, before 
you ask him. Thus therefore shall you 
pray : Our Father who art in heaven, hal- 
lowed be thy name : thy kingdom come. 
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day oursupersubstantial bread. 
And forgive us our debts, as we also for- 
give our debtors. And lead us not into 
temptation. But deliver us from evil. 
Amen. For if you will forgive men their 
offences, your heavenly Father will forgive 
you also your offences. But if you will not 
forgive men, neither will your Feather for- 
give you your offences. 



TRUST IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE. 245 

part of the Christian Sacrifice. Many ages it has 
been universally offered to God as the first and final 
expression of allegiance to Him and affection for 
our neighbor, and yet no one has dreamed that the 
Lord's prayer is worn out or can be superseded. He 
teaches it again and again, and we shall return to its 
consideration later on. 




They think that in their much speaking they may be heard." 



CHAPTER XXIII.— Continued. 

5. — RELIGIOUS JOY; TRUST IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE. 

Afterwards Jesus gives a needed lesson about 
a misery unhappily and yet truly named religious 
gloom. Joy is the dominant note of all friendship, 
most especially of that friendship which unites us to 
God — religion. Yet men, because they are sinners 
and must make atonement, are prone to gloom in re- 
ligion. Jesus is against this: "And when you fast 
be not as the hypocrites, sad; for they disfigure their 
faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen 
I say to you, they have received their reward. But 
thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash 
thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast, but 
to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who 
seeth in secret will repay thee." The reader will not 
fail to notice that our Saviour's warning against 



246 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



melancholy is joined with his con- 
demnation of ostentation and vain- 
glory in our religious demeanor, for 
it often happens that a gloomy Chris- 
tian is over-anxious for men's ap- 
proval. 

He frequently returned to the 
lesson of confidence in God. Who- 
ever knows what religious men call 
The World, knows how hardly it 
deals with its votaries ; also how 
doubly miserable are those who look 
to it for happiness. One of the most 
blessed favors Jesus bestows on us is 
emancipation from the world. Eat- 
ing and drinking, lodging and cloth- 
ing — all are necessary, but they come 
from God our Father : such is the 
doctrine of Christ. L,et us always 
bear Him in mind, always remember 
our eternal destiny as His well-lov- 
ed children : He will not fail us. 
Does He fail the beasts and the birds 
and the flowers and fruits ? Can He 
think less of us, His children, des- 
tined for His company in Paradise, 
than He does of these senseless 
things? Hence this charming dis- 
course on Confidence in God. It 
was delivered in a country place, the 
Master looking out over the fields 
and hedges, holding in His hand, 
we may suppose, a bunch of wild flowers, the offering 
of the children who were ever His favorites and were 
frequently in His company. 



" BE NOT SOLICITOUS ! " 

Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased 
your Father to give you a kingdom. Sell 
what you possess and give alms. Lay not 
up to yourselves treasures on earth : where 
the rust and moth consume, and where 
thieves break through, and steal. But lay 
up to yourselves treasures in heaven : where 
neither the rust nor moth doth consume, 
and where thieves do not break through, 
nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there 
is thy heart also. The light of thy body is 
thy eye. If thy eye be single thy whole 
body shall be lightsome. But if thy eye 
be evil thy whole body shall be darksome. 
If then the light that is in thee, be dark- 
ness : the darkness itself how great shall it 
be ? No man can serve two masters. For 
either he will hate the one, and love the 
other : or he will sustain the one, and de- 
spise the other. You cannot serve God 
and mammon. Therefore I say to you, 
be not solicitous for your life, what you 
shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall 
put on. Is not the life more than the meat : 
and the body more than the raiment ? Be- 
hold the birds of the air, for they neither 
sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into 
barns : and your heavenly Father feedeth 
them. Are not you of much more value 
than they ? And which of you by taking 
thought, can add to his stature one cubit ? 
And for raiment why are you solicitous ? 
Consider the lilies of the field how they 
grow : they labor not, neither do they spin. 
But I say to you, that not even Solomon in 
all his glory was arrayed as one of these. 
And if the grass of the field, which is to- 
day, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, 
God doth so clothe : how much more you, 
O ye of little faith ? Be not solicitous there- 
fore, saying : What shall we eat, or what 
shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be 
clothed ? For after all these things do the 
heathens seek. For your Father knoweth 
that you have need of all these things. 
And be not lifted up on high. Seek ye 
therefore first the kingdom of God, and his 
justice, and all these things shall be added 
unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for 
to-morrow ; for the morrow will be solici- 
tous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the 
evil thereof. 



TRUST IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE. 



247 



When reduced to its most elementary terms, this 
teaching means that although we must strive earnestly 
for the bodily support of ourselves and those de- 
pendent on us, we should strive yet more earnestly for 
the power to suffer want unrepiningly. No man 
worthily enjoys the temporal gifts of God who cannot 
be content without them. Our only absorbing desire 
must be for the Kingdom of God, which is not in 
eating and drinking. So far all must be conformed 
to this doctrine. What goes beyond this is for the 
smaller number. " Sell what you possess and give 
alms." It is the Gospel Counsel of Poverty. It is 
not a command but a special call to perfection. In 
its spirit of detachment it bears, indeed, upon all. 
But in its literal fulfilment, the counsel of Evangelical 
Poverty is for those alone whose souls are led to it 
by special illumination of the Holy Spirit. 

In all this the Master draws a dividing line between 
the worldly-minded Christian and the true-hearted 
disciple. The purpose of God in sending His Son on 
earth was not to bring temporal prosperity to those 
who should respond to His message, but very often 
the contrary. Jesus Himself was a poor man ; His 
mother and His foster-father were poor ; His disciples 
were poor ; His friends and followers in all ages, 
though drawn from all classes, poor and rich, mighty 
and lowly, have ever been and must ever be poor in 
spirit. But His Church always loves by preference 
actually and literally poor people. Her saintly heroes 
are all poor men and women, and in the vast majority 
of her membership she honors poverty and ministers 
to it. She is distinctively the poor man's Church. 

Members of the Church have indeed for a time lost 
some portion of this spirit, but it was because they 
had fallen into degeneracy ; a condition in which 




'♦Consider tb« 
lilies." 



24S LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

high offices were reserved for the rich and policy 
was shaped by worldly ends. But this was always 
the beginning of the ruin of religion; as at the divi- 
sion of Christendom three hundred years ago, and 
the French Revolution two centuries later. To be 
penetrated by Christ's Counsel of Poverty and domi- 
nated by its spirit is a prerequisite for maintaining 
the allegiance of men and nations to Christian unity 
and orthodoxy. 



CHAPTER XXIII.— Continued. 

6. — THE RULE OF FRATERNAL CHARITY ; THE EFFI- 
CACY OF PRAYER. 

One of the worst consequences of the fall of man 
is the inordinate tendency we feel to sit in judgment 
upon our equals. Although himself 
inevitably a sinner, each man is irre- 
sistibly bent on playing the censor of 
his neighbor. Against no other 
fault does our Saviour so often ad- 
monish us. ''Judge not, that you 
may not be judged ; for with what 
judgment you judge, you shall be 
judged, and with what measure you 
mete, it shall be measured to you 
again. And why seest thou the 
mote that is in thy brother's eye, and 
seest not the beam that is in thy 
own eye ? ' • How true it is that our 
little store of personal virtue is often 
the stimulus to excessive zeal for the 
correction of our neighbor. Censo- 
riousness is want of balance between personal virtue and 
zeal for correction, unless, indeed, it happens that correc- 
tion is imposed by one's office. Our Saviour threatens 



THE MOTE AND THE BEAM, 

Judge not, that you may not be judged. 
For with what judgment you judge, you 
shall be judged : and with what measure 
you mete, it shall be measured to you 
again. Good measure, and pressed down 
and shaken together and running over, 
shall be given into your bosom. And he 
spoke also to them a similitude : Can the 
blind lead the blind ? do they not both 
fall into the ditch ? The disciple is not 
above his master : but every one shall be 
perfect, if he be as his master. And why 
seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's 
eye ; and seest not the beam that is in 
thy own eye ? Or how sayest thou to thy 
brother : Let me cast the mote out of 
thy eye ; and behold a beam is in thy own 
eye ? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the 
beam out of thy own eye, and then shalt 
thou see to cast out the mote out of thy 
brother's eye. Give not that which is holy 
to dogs ; neither cast ye your pearls before 
swine, lest perhaps they trample them un- 
der their feet, and turning upon you, they 
tear you. 



FRATERNAL CHARITY; PRAYER. 



249 



" ASK, AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN YOU." 

Ask, and it shall be given you : seek, 
and you shall find : knock, and it shall be 
opened to you. For every one that ask- 
eth, receiveth : and he that seeketh, find- 
eth : and to him that knocketh, it shall be 
opened. Or what man is there among you, 
of whom if his son shall ask bread, will 
he reach him a stone ? Or if he shall 
ask him a fish, will he reach him a ser- 
pent ? If you then being evil, know how 
to give good gifts to your children, how 
much more will your Father who is in 
heaven give good gifts to them that ask 
him. 



the terrible penalty of retaliation : 
God will judge the judger by his own 
usurped rule of judging his neighbor. 

Naturally Jesus follows on to a 
warning against the other extreme, 
that of wasting our true and affec- 
tionate zeal upon those who are total- 
ly incapable of profiting by it : ' ' Give 
not that which is holy to dogs, neither 
cast ye your pearls before swine, lest 
perhaps they trample them under their feet, and 
turning upon you, they tear you." 

Upon which He returns to the efficacy of prayer, 
and six different times in succession (as if the incredi- 
ble revelation could not be too emphatically taught) 
He repeats one of His most marvellous promises: 
"Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you 
shall find ; knock, and it shall be 
opened to you. For every one 
that asketh, receiveth ; and he that 
seeketh, findeth, and to him that 
knocketh, it shall be opened." 
But, we may inquire, what is here 
referred to — what gift, what lost 
treasure, what door is meant? 
Many a one asks for deliverance 
from affliction, little knowing that 
it is placed as a condition of his 
salvation. Some would save a 
child from death, little under- 
standing the future downfall if the 
child grows to manhood. Some, 
again, are incessantly striving to 
substitute daily and petty miracles 
for the ordinary providence of the 




" Good measure, pressed down, shaken to*- 

gether, and running over." 



250 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



Heavenly Father. Hence in every prayer for temporal 
favors or for spiritual luxuries, our L,ord would have 
us wholly submissive to the good pleasure of the Father. 
Only one prayer can and must be peremptory — that for 
the salvation of the soul and the necessary means of 
securing it. ' ' Or what man is there among you, of whom 
if his son shall ask bread, will he reach him a stone? " 




M Enter ye in at the 
narrow gate." 



CHAPTER XXIII.— Concluded. 

7. — THE GOLDEN RULE. — THE NARROW AND THE 
BROAD WAY. — FALSE PROPHETS. 

Then follows the Golden Rule, the brief summary 
of all religious relationship between man and man — 
a most heroic rule, all the more because so simple, 
so accessible, so practical. As a commentary on it 
one would be justified in offering the entire body of 
Christian teaching : ' ' All things therefore whatso- 
ever ye would that men should do to you, do you 
also to them, for this is the law and the prophets." 
If this seems to narrow the empire of self-will down 
to painful self-forgetfulness, well and good, let it be 
so ; but consider what it leads to, all the more quickly 
and directly because so painfully strait. " Enter ye 
in at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad 
is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there 
are that go in thereat. How narrow is the gate 
and strait is the way that leadeth to 
life, and few there are that find it ! " 
It is not in loitering through wide 
and level plains full of flowers and 
pleasant groves that the limbs are 
developed and the lungs enlarged, 
but in climbing steep paths and con- 
quering rocky heights. So by self- 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 

All things therefore whatsoever ye would 
that men should do to you, do you also 
to them, for this is the law and the pro- 
phets. Enter ye in at the narrow gate, 
for wide is the gate and broad is the way 
that leadeth to destruction, and many 
there are who go in thereat. How nar- 
row is the gate and strait is the way 
that leadeth to life, and few there are that 
find it. 



THE GOLDEN RULE.— FALSE PROPHETS. 



251 



conquest alone may one grow to be a stalwart disciple 
of Jesus Christ. 

Not only are these principles to be put into prac- 
tice by Christ's followers generally, but especially so 
by Christian teachers. The people were to watch 
whether or not a teacher of new theories offered 
evidence of a practical sort : ' ' Beware of false pro- 
phets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, 
but inwardly they are ravening wolves. By their 
fruits you shall know them." A fatal test if applied 
to ritualistic Judaism, an axe at its very root. For, 
instead of love and harmony and inner spiritual life, 
its fruits were hatred and contention among brethren 
and formalism in religious worship. 

Jesus thus ended His great discourse. The simple 
beauty of the Sermon on the Mount outshines the 
masterpieces of orators as the noon-day sun a penny 
candle. Its precepts and its counsels are the essence 
of the New L,aw, a law of love for God and man, 
a system of precepts and counsels rightly called by ^ 
St. James the " perfect law of liberty." The Gospel, 
epitomized in this Sermon, is a code whose majesty 
of authority and whose stimulus to personal liberty 
are inextricably blended. The concluding words are 
a direct claim on Jesus' part to be the Divine 
Legislator Himself — this New I,aw is His word. 
Coupled with this is His preference of a virtuous 
life— built on His teaching as a house on a rock — 
over even supernatural gifts. On the contrary, a life 
of outward profession and even of inward belief but 
fruitless of inward and outward charity, is like a 
splendid building badly founded — the crevices that 
gape in its walls from top to bottom and the threaten- 
ing lean of its towers turn into mockery its rich 
materials and its graceful adornments. " Not every 




"fytos* 



" Strait is the way 
that leadeth to 
life." 



: 5 2 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



BY THEIR 



FRUITS YOU 
THEM." 



SHALL KNOW 



Beware of false prophets, who come to 
you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly 
they are ravening wolves. By their fruits 
you shall know them. Do men gather 
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? 
Even so every good tree bringeth forth 
good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth 
evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth 
evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring 
forth good fruit. Every tree that bring- 
eth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down 
and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore 
by their fruits you shall know them. A 
good man out of the good treasure of his 
heart bringeth forth that which is good : 
and an evil man out of the evil treasure 
bringeth forth that which is evil. For out 
of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
speaketh. Not every one that saith to 
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven ; but he that doth the 
will of my Father who is in heaven, he 
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
Many will say to me in that day: Lord, 
Lord, have not we prophesied in thy 
name, and cast out devils in thy name, 
and done many miracles in thy name ? 
And then will I profess unto them, I 
never knew you : depart from me, you 
that work iniquity. Every one therefore 
that heareth these my words, and doeth 
them, shall be likened to a wise man 
who digged deep and built his house 
upon a rock. And the rain fell, and the 
floods came, and the winds blew, and 
they beat upon that house, and it fell not, 
for it was founded on a rock. And every 
one that heareth these my words, and doth 
them not, shall be like a foolish man 
tha 1- built his house upon the sand with- 
out a foundation. And the rain fell, and 
the floods came, and the winds blew, and 
they beat upon that house, and immediate- 
ly it fell, and great was the fall thereof. 
And it came to pass when Jesus had fully 
ended these words, the people were in 
admiration at his doctrine. For he was 
teaching them as one having power, and 
not as their scribes and Pharisees. And 
when he was come down from the moun- 
tain great multitudes followed him. 



one that saith to me, Lord ! Lord I 
shall enter into the Kingdom of 
Heaven, but he that doth the will 
of my Father who is in Heaven, he 
shall enter into the Kingdom of 
Heaven." "Every one, therefore, 
that heareth these My words and 
doeth them, shall be likened to a 
wise man that built his house upon 
a rock. And the rain fell, and the 
floods came, and the winds blew, 
and they beat upon that house, and 
it fell not, for it was founded upon 
a rock." 

Who but the equal of God could 
so loftily speak of His own words ? 
What wonder, then, that with all 
His mildness, it was His awful dig- 
nity that gave the final echo of His 
discourse in the minds of His hear- 
ers. The Pharisees laid particular 
claim to authority. Compared with 
Jesus, authority was the conspicuous 
lack in all their teaching. He alone 
could say, My Words are stronger 
than the storms of life and death, and 
are the immovable and eternal basis 
of all joy. "And it came to pass 
when Jesus had fully ended these 
words, the people were in admiration 
at His doctrine : for He was teach- 



ing them as one having power, and 
not as their Scribes and Pharisees." 
So ended the Sermon on the Mount. 



HEALING THE CENTURION'S SERVANT. 



253 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

HEADING THE CENTURION'S SERVANT. — THE TWO 
BLIND MEN. — THE DUMB DEVIL,. 

Matt. viii. 5-13, and ix. 2J-34. ; Mark Hi. 20-22 ; 
Luke viz. 1 -10. 



' ' He loveth our nation and hath 
gogue." This praise of an upright 
turion was spoken to Jesus upon His 
return to Capharnaum by a deputa- 
tion of Jewish elders. Their errand 
was to beg Jesus to cure the Roman 
officer's servant. This was a favor- 
ite and well-loved dependent of his 
master, whose heart was heavy with 
fear of his impending death. So 
was the heart of our Saviour very 
tender towards that imperial race 
which was to know Him as its only 
master, and to give its name to His 
Church in abdicating in its favor the 
empire of the world. Jesus gladly 
went with the elders. The Roman 
united to the high quality of relig- 
ious generosity that of personal hu- 
mility. He sent another message, 
as he saw the approach of the mul- 
titude, and his message has become 
the world-wide expression of humble 
confidence upon the lips of Chris- 
tians when receiving Jesus in Com- 
munion. It is the Domine, non sum 
dignus : "Lord, trouble not Thy- 
self, for I am not worthy that Thou 
shouldst enter under my roof. For 



built us a syna- 
and kindly cen- 



"LORD, I AM NOT WORTHY THAT THOU 
SHOULDST ENTER UNDER MY ROOF." 

And when he had finished all his words 
in the hearing of the people, he entered 
into Capharnaum. The servant of a certain 
centurion, who was dear to him, being 
sick, was ready to die. And when he 
had heard of Jesus he sent to him the 
ancients of the Jews, desiring him to come 
and heal his servant. And when they 
came to Jesus they besought him earnest- 
ly, saying to him : He is worthy that 
thou shouldst do this for him, for he 
loveth our nation and he hath built us a 
synagogue. And Jesus went with them. 
And when he was now not far from the 
house, the centurion sent his friends to 
him, saying : Lord, trouble not thyself, 
for I am not worthy that thou shouldst 
enter under my roof. For which cause 
neither did I think myself worthy to come 
to thee : but say the word and my servant 
shall be healed. For I also am a man 
subject to authority, having under me 
soldiers ; and I say to one : Go ! and he 
goeth ; and to another : Come ! and he 
cometh ; and to my servant : Do this ! and 
he doth it. Which Jesus hearing, mar- 
velled, and turning about to the multitude 
that followed him, he said : Amen I say 
to you, I have not found so great faith 
not even in Israel. And I say to you that 
many shall come from the east and the 
west, and shall sit down with Abraham, 
and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of 
heaven. But the children of the kingdom 
shall be cast out into the exterior dark- 
ness : there shall be weeping and gnashing; 
of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion : 
Go, and as thou hast believed, so be it 
done to thee. And the servant was healed 
at the same hour. And they who were 
sent, being returned to the house, found 
the servant whole, who had been sick. 



254 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

which cause neither did I think myself worthy to come 
to Thee: but say the word, and my servant shall be 
healed." The great-hearted Roman was a soldier. His 
symbol of power was the word of command. Many a 
time had he taken his life in his hand at a single word 
of his superior officer, as he in turn had seen his 
legionaries do at his own behest. He would remind 
Jesus of this, his knowledge of the force of lawful 
authority: "For I also am a man subject to author- 
ity, having under me soldiers. And I say to one, Go ! 
and he goeth ; and to another, Come ! and he cometh ; 
and to my servant, Do this ! and he doth it. ' ' What 
a lesson was this to the proud Jewish elders, who, 
vain of their elect place, dealt almost on terms of 
equality with the prophets, and added to and dis- 
torted the precepts of the law of God ; whereas, this 
representative of the Gentile world thought Jesus too 
high a personage to be invited to enter his home. It 
was humility and frankness, but especially faith, that 
Roman virtue which should become the synonym of 
intellectual security of human reason in the ages to 
come — the new Pax Romana. 

Naturally, a Roman would admire first the sover- 
eign majesty of the Saviour ; but his joining to 
this the holy virtue of humility was very pleasing to 
Jesus, who foresaw the future supremacy of the 
Gentile races in His religion, and made haste to 
speak of it: "Turning about to the multitude 
who followed Him, He said : Amen I say to 
you, I have not found so great faith, not even 
in Israel. And I say to you that many shall come 
from the east and the west, and shall sit down 
with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the King- 
dom of Heaven. But the children of the king- 
dom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness : 



THE BLIND MEN; THE DUMB DEVIL. 



255 



j there shall be weeping and gnashing of 
; teeth." This is a proclamation of that high- 
| er law of heritage which is spiritual, not 
racial, nor even of sacred rites and sacrifices, 
but of the new birth of the inner man. A 
voice would yet resound in echo of this 
teaching, a clarion voice, going everywhere 
and saying, " There is neither Jew nor 
Greek, nor bond nor free, nor male nor fe- 
male, but ye are all one in Christ Jesus." 
Not by right of birth but by faith and love 
shall men be citizens of the kingdom of God. 
" And Jesus said, Go, and as thou hast be- 
lieved, so be it done to thee. And the 
servant was healed at the same hour." 

On the way to His resting-place for the 
night two blind men followed Jesus, crying : 
out " Have mercy on us, O Son of David ! " 
Jesus did not stop : was it to try their faith ? 
or was it lest that royal title, Son of David, 
might be caught up by the fiery Jews 
and turned into a war-cry? But His kindness was 
always the same, and at the door of the house Jesus 
turned, and asked: "Do you believe that I can do 
this unto you ? They say to Him, Yea, Lord. 
Then He touched their eyes, saying, According to 
your faith, be it done unto you. And their eyes 
were opened." How fitting a reward of the inward 
sight of faith, thus to be given the use of the eyes 
of the body, and to look first into the noble and 
beautiful face of Jesus Christ ! As on a former oc- 
casion, so now Jesus bade His grateful beneficiaries 
to be silent about the miracle, lest His plans should 
be forced; and, as before, so now it was in vain: 
"They spread His fame abroad in all that country. " 




" I have not found so great faith 
not even in Israel." 



256 



LIFE OF JESUS CHKIST. 



Quickly followed a demoniac who was made dumb 
by the evil spirit within him, and Jesus cast out the 
demon and the man spoke. " Never was the like seen 
in Israel" was the verdict of the people, who saw 
Jesus doing more wonders than ever Klias and 
Eliseus had done. But the emissa- 
ries of the chief priests, the spies in 
the camp of the Son of David, whis- 
pered to each other and began to 
say openly : " B} r the prince of devils 
He casteth out devils." 

After these miracles some 
1 ' friends ' ' of our Saviour, perhaps 
frightened by the accusation of dia- 
bolism, had the weakness to suggest 
that He had grown frantic, that He 
was become insane. "And they 
come to a house, and the multitude 
cometh together again, so that they 
could not so much as eat bread. And when His 
friends had heard of it, they went out to lay hold on 
Him. For they said: He is become mad." 



GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND. — CASTING 
OUT A DUMB DEVIL. 

And as Jesus passed from thence there 
followed him two blind men, crying out 
and saying : Have mercy on us, O Son of 
David. And when he was come to the 
house, the blind men came to him. And 
Jesus saith to them: Do you believe that 
I can do this unto you ? They say to him : 
Yea, Lord. Then He touched their eyes, 
saying : According to your faith, be it 
done unto you. And their eyes were open- 
ed ; and Jesus strictly charged them, say- 
ing : See that no man know this. But 
they going out spread his fame abroad 
in all that country. And when they were 
gone out, behold they brought him a dumb 
man possessed with a devil. And after the 
devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke, 
and the multitude wondered, saying : Never 
was the like seen in Israel. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE MIRACLE AT THE PROBATIC POOL. — SABBATH- 
BREAKING. — JESUS ASSERTS HIS DIVINITY. 
John v. 1-15. 
So far Jesus had preached and wrought miracles 
mainly in Galilee, making that province the nursery 
of His religion. The result was a deep-flowing re- 
ligious sentiment there. But Jerusalem must be made 
to know Him well, and He had never ceased to think 
of that city, the heart of the Land of Israel and 
the centre of all its religious life. He therefore re- 



THE MIRACLE A T THE PROBA TIC POOL. 257 

turned to the Holy City, and immediately He wrought 
a miracle which gave Him occasion to proclaim His 
divinity and to enlarge upon its attributes. 

"Now there is at Jerusalem a pond called Pro- 
batica, which in Hebrew is called Bethsaida, having 
five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick, 
of blind, of lame, of withered, waiting for the moving 
of the water." It was a place of miracles, one of 
those Holy Wells which God's lov- 
ing providence has scattered over all 
parts of the world. " And an angel 
of the Lord descended at certain 
times into the pond, and the water 
was moved. And he that went down 
first into the pond after the motion 
of the water, was made whole of 
whatsoever infirmity he lay under. ' ' 

As Jesus passed there, He saw 
among the anxious watchers of the 
water's motion a sufferer whose air 
of despondency aroused His compas- 
sion ; he had been infirm for thirt}^ 
eight years, and our Saviour knew 
that he had been long and vainly 
waiting for his cure. " Wilt thou 
be made whole?" He asked him. 
The man supposed He meant the 
healing given by the pool. His piti- 
ful and even reproachful answer 
deepened the sympathy of the Sav- 
iour, whose heart is a very ocean of 
healing. " I have no man to put 
me into the pond"; as if to say, 
other invalids are rich and have 
their servants to lift them up and 



" TAKE UP THY BED AND WALK." 

After these things was a festival day of 
the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jeru- 
salem. Now there is at Jerusalem a pond 
called Probatica, which in Hebrew is called 
Bethsaida, having five porches. In these 
lay a great multitude of sick, of blind, of 
lame, of withered, waiting for the moving 
of the water. And an angel of the Lord 
descended at certain times into the pond, 
and the water was moved. And he that 
went down first into the pond after the 
motion of the water, was made whole of 
whatsoever infirmity he lay under. And 
there was a certain man there that had 
been eight and thirty years under his in- 
firmity. Him when Jesus had seen lying 
and knew that he had been now a long 
time, he saith to him : Wilt thou be made 
whole ? The infirm man answered him : 
Sir, I have no man, when the water is 
troubled, to put me into the pond ; for 
whilst I am coming, another goeth down 
before me. Jesus saith to him : Arise, 
take up thy bed and walk. And immedi- 
ately the man was made whole and he 
took up his bed and walked. And it was 
the Sabbath that day. The Jews therefore 
said to him that was healed : It is the Sab- 
bath ; it is not lawful for thee to take 
up thy bed. He answered them : He that 
made me whole, he said to me, Take up thy 
bed and walk. They asked him therefore, 
who is that man who said to thee, Take 
up thy bed and walk ? But he that was 
healed knew not who it was, for Jesus 
went aside from the multitude standing in 
the place. Afterwards Jesus findeth him in 
the Temple and saith to him : Behold thou 
art made whole ; sin no more, lest some 
worse thing happen to thee. The man 
went his way and told the Jews that it 
was Jesus who made him whole. 



2 5 8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




l An angel of the Lord descended 
at certain times into the pond." 



hurry them in before me, a miserable 
pauper ; by the time that I have dragged 
myself to the bottom of the steps the angel 
is gone. But Jesus lifted him up quickly 
and by a mere word : " Arise, take up thy 
bed and walk." Instantly the blood flow- 
ed new and fresh into his withered legs, 
the dead nerves began to tingle with the 
warmth of life. He stood up immediately, 
leaped and jumped, took up his bed and 
walked. From this miracle arose a most 
violent agitation against Jesus : it was 
wrought on the Sabbath day! 

Certain Jews saw the man who had 
been healed passing along the streets car- 
rying his bed, an admiring crowd mak- 
ing him more conspicuous, and they cried 
out to him : "It is the Sabbath day ; it is not 
lawful for thee to carry thy bed." They were less 
concerned at a stupendous miracle than at a poor 
man carrying his bed to his humble home on the 
Sabbath. He, very naturally, took refuge from their 
attack under the authority of the Wonder-worker. 
"He that made me whole said to me : Take up thy 
bed and walk." And who was He ? The man did not 
know His name ; meantime Jesus had gone aside and 
was lost in the crowd. But Jesus took care to meet 
him after awhile in the Temple, and said to him : 
" Behold thou art made whole; sin no more, lest some 
worse thing happen to thee." This indicates that the 
man's illness had been caused by his vices ; Jesus 
read his conscience, and made His work of mercy 
complete by this admonition. 

Upon which the healed man published abroad that 
it was Jesus of Nazareth who had cured him. From 



SABBATH-BREAKING. 259 

this moment a bitter contest began ; the Sabbath- 
breaker is known, He must be brought to task, ay, 
He ought to be slain. 

On His part, He did not shrink, but turned their 
accusation to good account, showing His authority 
by proving His union with the Father. " My Father 
worketh hitherto, and I work." He teaches that work 
is never wrong in itself, for on every day God's 
omnipotence is inconceivably active in ruling and re- 
creating the universe. Absolute cessation from work 
for a single instant would mean final destruction. 
Who will proclaim a Sabbath to the Almighty Father 
in preserving men's lives? Who will hinder the Son 
from healing a lame man on the Sabbath ? The 
Father and the Son work thus in unison. The reason- 
ing of Jesus was bold, and its meaning, when 
well considered, was nothing less than a claim 
to be one God with the Father. " My Father 
worketh hitherto, and I work." 

The Jews saw plainly enough that when Jesus 
named God as His Father in so strict and exclusive 
a sense He claimed divinity. The crime of Sabbath- 
breaking was swallowed up in that of blasphemy. 
" Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill 
Him, because He did not only break the Sabbath, 
but also said that God was His Father, making Him- 
self equal to God." Jesus was unmoved, nay, He 
was glad of the vast crowd which by this time had 
been drawn around Him, probably in some spacious a ^^aik 5 " 
court of the Temple. He began a great discourse, 
divided into eight different parts, each one lifting his 
hearers' minds high into the contemplation of His 
union with His Father. 

1 st. His oneness with the Father in the divine 
activity : "■ Amen, amen, I say unto you, the Son can- 




26o LIFE OF yESUS CHRIST. >. 



not do anything of Himself, but what He seeth the 
Father doing, or what things soever He doth, these 
the Son also doth in like manner. For the Father 
loveth the Son and showeth Him all things which 
Himself doth, and greater works than these will He 
show Him, that you may wonder." It is M in like 
manner ' ' as God the Father that the uncreated will 
of Jesus flows into His humanity and actuates and 
guides His created will. This goes far beyond the { 
cure of the withered limbs of a paralytic ; it will be , 
extended to, 2d. The sovereign authority over life and \ 
death : * ' For as the Father raiseth up the dead and \ 
giveth life, so the Son also giveth life to whom He ; 
will." This life-giving and life-taking power of the [ 
Father and the Son, Jesus goes on to show, is a 
divine attribute associated with the exercise of supreme 
dominion in the judgment of men's moral conduct. 
Jesus therefore claims an honor from men equal to 
that paid to His Father ; for, 3d. The authority of i 
Father and Son as judges of men is identical : " For ; 
neither does the Father judge any man, but hath 
given all judgments to the Son, that all men may [ 
honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who , 
honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father who , 
sent Him. Amen, amen, I say unto you, that he 
who heareth My word, and believeth Him that a 
sent Me, hath life everlasting and cometh not into , 
judgment, but is passed from death to life. Amen, 
amen, I say unto you, that the hour cometh and - 
now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of f 
the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For j 
as the Father hath life in Himself, so He hath given 
to the Son also to have life in Himself. And He 
hath given Him power to do judgment, because He 
is the Son of Man. Wonder not at this, for the hour 



; J£S US ASSERTS BIS DIVINITY. 



261 



cometh when all that are in the graves 
shall hear the voice of the Son of God. 
And they that have done good things, 
shall come forth unto the resurrection of 
life, but they that have done evil, unto the 
resurrection of judgment." And now He 
passes to evidence of this claim of divinity 
to be true, and why it should be accepted. 
He is man, that is certain ; how shall we 
be equally certain that He is God ? 
Not by His mere human word. For if 
He acted as man simply, separate from 
God, He would be powerless in ac- 
tion and unworthy of credence as a 
teacher. Therefore He says he 
never so acts or teaches. Thus, 
4th, His teaching is true because He 
teaches in obedience to God : ll I cannot of 
Myself do anything. As I hear, so I 
judge, and My judgment is just, because 
I seek not My own will, but the will of 
Him who sent Me. If I bear witness to 
Myself My witness is not true. There is 
another that beareth witness of Me, and 
I know that the witness which He wit- 
nesseth of Me is true." What is the force 
of that witness? It is as plain as day, 
and as close as God could make it : a 
great messenger of God, a man of mar- 
vellous power, accepted by all Israel. 
1 Therefore, sth, John the Baptist witnesses 

\r ,r , ,t /• 7 r t 1 r tt- " The hour cometh when all that 

\J0r the truthfulness Of Jesus and for His are in the graves shall hear the voice 

flessias-ship : ' ' There is another that of the Son of God -" 
I beareth witness of Me, and I know that the witness 
which He witnesseth of Me is true. You sent to 




262 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

John and he gave testimony of the truth. But I 
receive not testimony from man ; but I say these 
things that you may be saved. He was a burning 
and a shining light, and you were willing for a time 
to rejoice in his light." If Jesus be an impostor, 
John the Baptist was a cheat or a visionary. But He 
has a yet more direct guarantee of His office of 
Messias and of the truth of all His claims, including 
that of being the only Begotten Son of God — a guaran- 1 
tee superior to the testimony of John. It is the amaz- \ 
ing power of miracles. Nicodemus the Pharisee had ; 
placed this proof in its right aspect when He said, \ 
6th, that no man could do the works which Jesus did \ 
wiless God were with him: "But I have a greater; 
testimony than that of John, for the works which; 
the Father hath given Me to perfect, the works them-* 
selves which I do, give testimony of Me, that the; 
Father hath sent Me. And the Father Himself who ? 
hath sent Me, hath given testimony of Me." The : 
instinctive answer of the sceptical mind to this would, 
be the demand actually to see God and hear His 
voice in confirmation of the claim of Jesus. But this ; 
was a frantic absurdity, especially for a Hebrew who; 
had the revealed word of God ever at hand. Now, 
7 th, The divinity of Jesus was plainly foretold in the, 
Scriptures : ' ' Neither have you heard His voice at 
any time nor seen His shape. And you have not) 
His word abiding in you, for whom He hath sent, 
Him you believe not. Search the Scriptures, for 
you think in them to have life everlasting, and the 
same are they that give testimony of Me." The 
Hebrew prophets had uttered God's voice and these 
men had stopped their ears. The reason they do not 
receive Jesus is not want of reasonable and overwhelm- 
ing evidence of His divine mission and even His divine 



JESUS ASSER TS HIS Dl VINITY. n£>y 

nature. For, 8th, the Jews reject Jesus because they do 
not love God. If He had ministered to their pride and 
ambition, they would gladly have followed Him. And 
so He ends His case against them : " And you will not 
come to Me that you may have life. I receive not 
glory from men, but I know you, that you have 
not the love of God in you. I am come in the name 
of My Father, and you receive Me not ; if another 
shall come in his own name, him you will receive. 
How can you believe, who receive glory one from 
another, and the glory which is from God alone you 
do not seek? Think not that I will accuse you to 
the Father. There is one that accuseth you, Moses, 
in whom you trust. For if you did believe Moses, 
you would perhaps believe Me also, for he wrote of 
Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how 
shall you believe My words ? ' ' 

The Saviour's concluding words are very note- 
worthy. He is not the enemy of His people ; He will 
not consent to be their accuser. It is not the Mes- 
sias, but Moses, their ancient leader, intercessor, law- 
giver, who will become their judge. They are indeed 
zealous supporters of Moses, but only in outward forms, 
for Jesus, whom they accuse as a blasphemer, Moses fore- 
told as their Messias, and reverenced as the Saviour 
of the world and the I,ord and Master of mankind. 

In this majestic discourse Jesus claims to possess 
the incommunicable attributes of the Deity : unity of 
action, reciprocity of power ; dominion over life and 
death ; the supreme judgeship of the human race. 
And He proves His claim by reference to John the 
Baptist, to the Hebrew Scriptures, and by a gift of 
miracles so constant and so amazing as to guarantee 
God's approval. All this He taught upon occasion 
of a dispute over Sabbath-breaking. 




264 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

PLUCKING THE EARS OF WHEAT ON THE SABBATH. — 
HEALING THE MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND. 
— CONSPIRACY BETWEEN THE PHARISEES AND 
HERODIANS. 

Matt. xii. 1-13 ; Mark ii. 23-28, and Hi. 1-5 ; 
Luke vi. 1-10. 

FTER the festival days Jesus left Jerusalem 
and journeyed with His disciples towards 
Galilee. He travelled slowly, tarrying along 
the way for several days preaching the King- 
dom of God to the country people. On the 
first Sabbath-day the caravan encamped near 
some fields of wheat. Meantime the Pharisees 
had sent their detectives to watch and to an- 
noy the Master, and St. Luke tells us what 
then happened. 
" And it came to pass on the second first Sabbath, 
that as He went through the corn-fields, His disciples 
being hungry, began to go forward, and to pluck 
the ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands." This 
became an occasion for a brief but very clear ex- 
planation of the difference between the ritual observ- 
ance of a spiritual man and that of a formalist. The 
religious martinet is mainly concerned with the out- 
ward form, the true disciple with the spiritual mean- 
ing. 

The sharp zeal of the Pharisees objected to the 
plucking of the ears of corn : ' ' Why do you that which 
is not lawful on the Sabbath-days ? ' ' And others 
went to Jesus and complained: "Behold Thy dis- 
ciples do that which is not lawful to do on the Sab- 
bath-days." But the alleged illegality was not fixed 



PLUCKING WHEAT ON THE SABBATH. 



265 



by Moses but by the Jewish rabbis, who made hard 
additions to a law already too hard to observe. Jesus 
answered in popular style by citing examples : " Have 
you not read so much as this, what David did when 
himself was hungry, and they that were with him : 
how he went into the house of God, and took and 
ate the bread of proposition, and gave to them that 
were with him, which is not lawful to eat but only 
for the priests?" This was an instance of dispen- 
sation on account of necessity, to which all 
such laws as that of the Sabbath must yield 
as to superior authority. But Jesus adds an 
example of a higher kind, the needs of relig- 
ious service itself. Those who ministered with 
Him were on an equal footing with those who 
served in the Temple; nay, the preaching of 
His Gospel was even above the worship of 
the Temple. <( Or have ye not read in the law, 
that on the Sabbath-days the priests in the 
Temple break the Sabbath, and are without 
blame ? But I tell you that there is here a 
greater than the Temple." Higher still He 
leads them ; He tells them of the supreme law of 
charity, violated by them in judging these hungry men 
for taking a few mouthfuls of wheat : ' ' And if you 
knew what this meaneth, / will have mercy, and not 
sacrifice, you would never have condemned the inno- 
cenc." The whole teaching is summarized in two 
axioms : "And He said to them, the Sabbath was 
mide for man, and not man for the Sabbath. The 
Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath." 

There was now open war between Jesus and the 
Pharisees. His every occasion of teaching was theirs 
for fault-finding ; nay, for accusation of the most 
deadly crimes, such as heresy and blasphemy. Even 




Why do you that which is 
not lawful on the Sabbath- 
days ? 



266 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

His miracles, dictated by His loving kindness, were 
pretexts for their poisonous malice. The following 
incident of the healing of the man with the withered 
hand is in point. The Apocryphal Gospel of the Naza- 
renes says that the man came and said : "I am a 
poor mason, earning my living by the labor of my 
hands : O Jesus, I pray Thee to cure me, that I may 
be saved from the shame of begging my bread." 

Now, this was in the synagogue at Capharnaum, 
on the Sabbath, perhaps the one after the Master's 
arrival there, and in the sight of a multitude of 
people. Would Jesus dare to do on the Sabbath a 
deed of charity that He could just as well post- 
pone to the next day ? Would He openly condemn 
the Pharisees' interpretation of the Sabbath rest ? 
They watched Him with eager eyes. Jesus de- 
termined to give an object-lesson of the true Hebrew 
practice : l ' And it came to pass on another Sabbath 
that He entered into the synagogue and taught. And 
there was a man whose right hand was withered. 
And the Scribes and Pharisees watched if He would 
heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusa- 
tion against Him. But He knew their thoughts and 
said to the man with the withered hand : Arise, and 
stand forth in the midst. And rising he stood forth. 
Then said Jesus to them : I ask you if it be lawful 
on the Sabbath-days to do good or to do evil, to 
save life or to destroy? But they held their peace." 
The prerogative of saving was His, for He was 
sent to save. Jesus argued further: "What man 
shall there be among you, that hath one sheep, and 
if the same fall into a pit on the Sabbath-day, will he 
not take hold on it and lift it up ? How much better 
is a man than a sheep ! Therefore it is lawful to do 
a good deed on the Sabbath-day." The very soul 



THE MAN WITH THE WITHERED HAND. 



267 



of Jesus was stirred within Him at their fanatical 
orthodoxy. ' ' And looking round about on them with 
anger, being grieved for the blindness of their hearts, 
He saith to the man : Stretch forth thy hand. And 
he stretched it forth, and his hand was restored to 
him." If a shepherd would save his sheep on the 
Sabbath, Jesus would save a friend, a brother, though 
on account of it the Pharisees should thirst for 
His blood. 

The Pharisees now began to take counsel for His 
death. They even went for counsel to the He- 
rodians, the emissaries and spies of the licentious 
tyrant who had but recently imprisoned John the 
Baptist. It is a sad example of how the hypocriti- 
cal external observance of law may form alliance 
with shameless vice against true virtue. "And the 
Pharisees were filled with madness, and they talked 
one with another, what they might do to Jesus, 
and going out immediately, made a consultation 
with the Herodians against Him, how they might 
destroy Him. But Jesus knowing it, retired from 
thence with His disciples to the sea ; and many fol- 
lowed Him, and He healed them all. And He 
charged them that they should not make Him 
known. And a great multitude followed Him from 
Galilee and from Jerusalem and Idumea, and from 
beyond the Jordan ; and they about Tyre and 
Sidou, a great multitude, hearing the things which 
He did, came to Him. And He spoke to His dis- 
ciples that a small ship should wait 011 Him be- 
cause of the multitude, lest they should throng 
Him. For He healed many, so that they pressed 
upon Him for to touch Him, as many as had 
evils. And the unclean spirits, when they saw 
Him, fell down before Him, and they cried, say- 




" And He saith 

man : Stretch 

thy hand.' 



to the 
forth 



268 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

ing, Thou art the Son of God. And He strictly- 
charged them that they should not make Him known. 
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 
Isaias the Prophet, saying : Behold, My servant whom 
I have chosen, My beloved in whom My Soul hath been 
well pleased. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and 
He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not 
contend, nor cry out, neither shall any man hear His 
voice in the streets. The bruised reed He shall not 
break, and smoking flax He shall not extinguish, till 
He send forth judgment unto victory. And in His Name 
the Gentiles shall hope." 

Jesus therefore deemed it prudent to give up Ca- 
pharnaum as His ordinary domicile, and for a period 
He sailed with His disciples from place to place along 
the lake shore, preaching and healing as before, 
but endeavoring to suppress the fame of His miracles. 
Soon, however, He found that a yet further retreat 
was necessary for His purpose. He landed with His 
Apostles on the west shore and went back into the 
country towards Nairn. 



THE GREAT MIRACLE OF NAIM 



269 




RUINS OF THE CITY OF NAIM. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE GREAT MIRACLE OF NAIM. 

Luke vii. 11-18. 

Naim was a little city the better part of a day's 
journey from the lake shore. It was beautifully 
placed (it is now but a miserable cluster of huts) 
on the north-west slope of Iyittle Hermon, and was 
once a town of some note. In visiting the very ancient 
cemetery near by, the lessons of death are mingled 
with the joyful thought that the old enemy met 
more than his match one pleasant evening of the 
long ago at the adjacent city gate. 

As Jesus journeyed with the large following which 
was now His usual company, He passed the cave 
of the witch of Endor, and looked westward over the 
plain of Esdrelon, in former days empurpled with 
the blood of many great battles. Perhaps He con- 
versed of the heroes of old and of how they all 



270 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



finally were conquered by death, an enemy who 
was now to be overthrown. As He approached the 
city's gate His soul was moved by the plaintive 
sound of the Hebrew death chant. Soon they saw 
the funeral approaching. First came the men, their 
heads and faces partly covered with their mantles, 
their feet bare, their garments rent, moving slowly 
and in silence, followed hy the corpse. There lay 
the dead man swathed in cerecloths upon an open 
bier, his white face turned vacantly 
to the sky. The women came next, 
singing with many tears a mournful 
chant accompanied by the sweet 
notes of the flutes. In this case 
there was no false show of sympathj', 
for the dead man ' ' was the only son 
of his mother, and she was a widow, 
and a great multitude of the city 
was with her." What happened is 
told thus by St. Luke: "Whom 
when the Lord had seen, being 
moved with mercy towards her, He 
said to her: Weep not. And He 
came near and touched the bier. 
And they that carried it stood still. 
And He said : Young man, I say to thee, Arise. 
And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. 
And He gave him to his mother." 

Jesus commanded Death, and that pitiless tyrant 
instantly obe>ed — the corpse heard and spoke and 
was alive. Jesus took him by the hand and led him 
to the astounded mother ; he began to speak — per- 
haps to repeat the words of Jesus : "Mother, weep 
not." What a deep impression must have been made 
upon all the people present ! He who is Master of 



THE WIDOW'S SON. 

And it came to pass afterwards, that he 
went into a certain city that is called Nairn, 
and there went with him his disciples and a 
great multitude. And when he came nigh 
to the gate of the city, behold a dead man 
was carried out, the only son of his mother, 
and she was a widow, and a great multi- 
tude of the city was with her. Whom 
when the Lord had seen, being moved with 
mercy towards her, he said to her : Weep 
not. And he came near and touched the 
bier. And they that carried it stood still. 
And he said : Young man, I say to thee, 
Arise. And he that was dead sat up and 
began to speak. And he gave him to his 
mother. And there came a fear on them all 
and they glorified God, saying : A great 
prophet is risen up among us, and God hath 
visited his people. And this rumor of him 
went forth throughout all Judea, and 
throughout all the country round about. 
And John's disciples told him of all these 
things. 



THE GREA T MIRACLE Of NAIM. 



271 




" And He gave him to his mother.' 



death is man's easy conqueror. "They glorified God, 
saying : A great Prophet is risen up among us, and 
God hath visited His people." In truth, this awful 
miracle, which surpassed in publicity and in other 
favorable circumstances that of the raising to life of 
the daughter of Jairus, was soon talked about every- 
where. The disciples of John hurried away to his 
prison with the marvellous tidings. 




272 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE MESSENGERS OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
Matt. xi. 2-ig ; Luke vii. 18-35. 

jS the Baptist heard these wonders his soul 
triumphed with Jesus over death and over the 
demons. But he never dreamed of Jesus be- 
ing his deliverer from prison ; his unselfish 
nature was absorbed in the one thought of 
God's will, God's glory, all centred in the 
Messias. He longed to hear of His supremacy 
among the people, at the Temple, before the 
Romans — His full religious supremacy. But John's 
disciples, who had already quarrelled with those of 
Jesus, must have made some complaints to him, impart- 
ed to him their doubts, questioned the entire fulfilment 
of the prophecies in the Carpenter of Nazareth. Hence 
the Precursor sent from his prison a message which he 
hoped would hasten Jesus in His onward march, and 
elicit from Him a more solemn proclamation of His 
Messias-ship than any yet given. The message was 
sent with another purpose, that of allaying the doubts 
of John's adherents, as being calculated, by voicing 
their difficulties, to secure an explicit affirmation, 
made direct to them, of Jesus' Messias-ship. " He 
called to him two of his disciples and sent them to 
Jesus, saying : Art thou He that art to come or 
look we for another?" John, exercising his office 
of pointing out the Lamb of God, does Him this 
last service before his own martyrdom shall close 
his lips — a witness faithful unto death. 

Our Saviour did not change His plan at this solici- 
tation, and yet He received the strange embassy with 
loving courtesy. Deeds, miracles, heavenly power, 



57'. JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



*7$ 



heavenly love for the poor, must ever outrank mere 
words, no matter how plain, in authenticating His 
mission ; herein He teaches us a lesson of practical 
religion: "Go and relate to John what you have 
heard and seen : the blind see, the lame walk, the 
lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead rise 
again, to the poor the Gospel is preached." This 
answer was of more worth to the orthodox Jews 
who came from John than at first sight we might 
suppose, for they were children of the prophets. 
Now, Isaias (xxxv. 5) had marked the Messias' open- 
ing of blind eyes and deaf ears, giving speech to 
the dumb and healing the halt and lame, evangeliz- 
ing the poor, as signs of His divine mission ; Kzechiel 
(xxxvi. and xxxvii.) foretold the 
raising of the dead to life. But 
Jesus gave a final word of warning to 
His Precursor's followers: "Bless- 
ed is he whosoever shall not be 
scandalized in Me." 

He waited till they had departed, 
lest His words of praise for John 
should seem like personal flattery, 
and then He gave to His immense 
auditory what was in reality the 
funeral oration upon John, whose 
end the Saviour knew was near at 
hand — the end of a mighty saint, 
worthy, if any one could be so, to be preached over by 
the Son of God. St. L,uke doubtless gives us but a 
brief summary of this striking eulogy of John the Bap- 
tist — the saintliest of all hermits, of all ascetics and 
contemplatives, of all who keep baptismal innocence or 
who achieve its recovery by penance, model of mission- 
aries to sinful Christians, of fearless reprovers of crime 



" GO AND RELATE WHAT YOU HAVE HEARD 

AND SEEN." 

Now, when John had heard in prison the 
works of Christ [he] called to him two of 
his disciples and sent them to Jesus, say- 
ing : Art thou he that art to come, or 
look we for another ? And when the men 
were come unto him they said : John 
the Baptist hath sent us to thee, saying : 
Art thou he that art to come, or look we 
for another ? (And in that same hour he 
cured many of their diseases, and hurts, 
and evil spirits, and to many that were 
blind he gave sight.) And answering, he 
said to them : Go and relate to John what 
you have heard and seen : the blind see, the 
lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the 
deaf hear, the dead rise again, to the poo 
the Gospel is preached, and blessed is he 
whosoever shall not be scandalized in me. 



274 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

in high places, martyrs, humble lovers of Jesus the 
Lamb of God: "What went you out into the 
desert to see ? a reed shaken with the wind ? But 
what went you out to see ? a man clothed in soft 
garments ? Behold, they that are in costly apparel, 
and live delicately, are in the houses of kings. But 
what went you out to see ? A prophet ? Yea, I 
say to you, and more than a prophet ; this is he of 
whom it is written, Behold I send My angel before 
Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee." 

He was the greatest natural man that was ever 
born of woman, the last and the greatest of the heroic 
race of Israel. "For I say to you, amongst those 
that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet 
than John the Baptist." And yet the old order, even 
as typified in John, yields to the new, the child of 
the promise to the child of the fulfilment: "But he 
that is the lesser in the Kingdom of God, is greater 
than he." Greater, that is to say, in dignity, but 
certainly not in personal virtue. As Moses led the 
children of Israel to the Land of Promise without 
entering it, so John leads the people to the perfection 
of their destiny in Christ and His Church, points it 
out, gazes fondly upon it, and remains in the desert 
to close by a glorious death the long era of God's 
ancient dispensation. 

And yet, having given John such high praise, our 
Saviour was not done with him. He would still insist 
that the ideal Jew was John and John's type of old, 
the Prophet Elias ; this was the stuff to make the 
best Christians of — the true Israelite was of a manly, 
a daring, a warlike race, as well as one gifted with 
the fixed gaze of the Semitic contemplative. "And 
from the days of John the Baptist until now, the king- 
dom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent 



ST JOHN THE BAPTIST 275 

bear it away. For all the prophets and the Law 
prophesied until John. And if you will receive it, 
he is Klias that is to come." Then He marked His 
emphasis : ' ' He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. ' ' 
Meantime many Jewish leaders had rejected John, 
and Jesus reminded His hearers of this. Not cour- 
age but rashness, not frankness but intrigue, not hu- 
mility but haughtiness were their characteristics and 
the qualities they sought in others. They had set 
themselves apart from God's Kingdom, and the result 
was that publicans and simple country people and 
rough fishermen were given their vacant places ; and 
this began with John's baptizing in the Jordan : 
" And all the people hearing, and the publicans, justi- 
fied God, being baptized with John's baptism. But 
the Pharisees and the lawyers despised the counsel 
of God against themselves, being not baptized by 
him." If John was too austere for them, Jesus was 
too lax : the critical spirit is content with nothing 
but the office of criticism. " And the Lord said, 
Whereunto, then, shall I liken the men of this genera- 
tion ? and to what are they like ? They are like to 
children sitting in the market-place, and speaking 
one to another and saying: We have piped to you, 
and you have not danced ; we have mourned, and 
you have not wept. For John the Baptist came, 
neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say : 
He hath a devil. The Son of Man is come eating 
and drinking, and you say : Behold a man that is a 
glutton and wine-drinker, a friend of publicans and 
sinners." Pride is by turns a scoffing free-liver and 
a fanatical ascetic — anything so as to maintain its 
place of censor. Wrong-hearted men would be both 
self-indulgent and gloomy in their religion, because 
they are proud ; proud men cannot be happy even 



276 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



when yielding to sensuality, for their best pleasure 
is in making other men miserable. But our Saviour 
ended thus: "Wisdom is justified by all her chil- 
dren." Penance is consistent with joy — nay, it alone 
gives true joy, for it generates peace of conscience 
and loving confidence in God. Joy is the dominant 
note of all godlike conduct whether 
jubilant or penitential, for God is 
love and joy. If a man is able easily 
to weep and to laugh by turns he has 
learned true life. 



THE WOMAN THAT WAS A SINNER. 

And one of the Pharisees desired him to 
eat with him. And he went into the house 
of the Pharisee and sat down to meat. 
And behold, a woman that was in the city, 
a sinner, when she knew that he sat at 
meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an 
alabaster box of ointment, and standing 
behind at his feet, she began to wash his 
feet with tears, and wipe them with the 
hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and 
anointed them with me ointment. And the 
Pharisee who had invited him, seeing it, 
spoke within himself, saying: This man, if 
he were a prophet, would know surely who 
and what manner of woman this is that 
toucheth him, that she is a sinner. And 
Jesus answering, said to him : Simon, I 
have somewhat to say to thee. But he 
said : Master, say it. A certain creditor 
had two debtors ; the one owed five hundred 
pence and the other fifty. And whereas 
they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave 
them both. Which therefore of the two 
loveth him most ? Simon answering said : 
I suppose that he to whom he forgave 
most. And he said to him, Thou hast 
judged rightly. And turningtothe woman, 
he said unto Simon : Dost thou see this 
woman ? I entered into thy house : thou 
gavest me no water for my feet ; but she 
with tears hath washed my feet, and with 
her hairs hath wiped them. Thou gavest 
me no kiss, but she, since she came in, 
hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head 
with oil thou didst not anoint, but she 
with ointment hath anointed my feet. 
Wherefore I say to thee, many sins are 
forgiven her, because she hath loved much. 
But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth 
less. And he said to her, Thy sins are for- 
given thee. And they that sat at meat with 
him began to say within themselves : Who 
is this that forgiveth sins also ? And he 
said to the woman : Thy faith hath made 
thee safe ; go in peace. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



THE MAGDALEN AT THE 
Luke vii 



BANQUET. 
36-50. 

The great assemblage had broken 
up and the people had scattered to 
their homes. All but our Saviour's 
immediate disciples must return to 
daily labor and household duties, 
His lessons resting only upon the 
surface of some minds and sinking 
deep into others, all thinking and 
talking of Him and of His miracles 
and His doctrine. The Master was 
led by His followers to the hospital- 
ity of a prominent Pharisee named 
Simon, whose house was in the town 
of Magdala, upon whose site on the 
lake shore the pilgrim of our day 
finds the little Arab village El- 
Megdel, its humble cottages taking 
the place of the old-time luxurious 
dwellings, whose very ruins are al- 



THE MAGDALEN AT THE BANQUET. 



277 




most totally obliterated. The town 
was a place of evil repute, containing _ 
many bad women and worse men. 
Those of its inhabitants who were 
not given to vice were either careless 
of its scandal or fanatical in their 
opposition to it. 

But why did Simon the Pharisee 
invite Jesus to dine with him ? Not 
from love, it would seem; for we shall find that 
the Master received scant courtesy from His host. 
Jesus had His own purposes, and accepted the 
invitation. Leaving His sandals, according to 
usage, at the door, He noticed as He entered that 
He was not offered the water and towel to wash 
His feet, customary in that sub-tropical country ; 
nor was He given the usual kiss of welcome, nor 
the perfumed oil for His hair and beard. What 
happened afterwards is narrated by St. Luke with 
such vividness as to be almost spoiled by comment. 

Let us admit that the poor Pharisee might well be 
indignant at seeing a harlot making her way through 
the curious crowd which hung about the doors and 
windows, entering, in spite of his servants, into his 
dining-hall, and then going up to the couch on which 
Jesus half reclined, according to custom, beside the 
Pharisee himself. What would shock us more than 
such boldness? But let us ask what were Mary's 
feelings? The poor Magdalen blushed purple and 
then was pale with nervous excitement. She wept ; 
and Jesus, who hated shameless lust as no one else 
ever could, was moved to tender pity by her grief 
and her tears. 

He had known her before ; He had converted 
her and cast seven devils out of her (Luke vii. 2). 



*T^b.^_ 




278 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




Her career as an evil woman was at 
this town of Magdala." 



This had happened at one of His visits to this part of 
the lake shore ; perhaps she had halted her splendid 
chariot on the edge of one of His assemblages and 
caught some words of burning reproach, 
gone sorrowfully away, repented, returned 
and confessed, and now sought Him as her 
Master, and would begin her following of 
Him by public penance. She was of a 
respectable, doubtless a wealthy family, 
for we shall find her again at Bethany, a 
sister to Martha and Lazarus, our Sav- 
iour's faithful friends. The scene of her 
career as an evil woman was, as her 
name imports, at this town of Magdala, 
far away from her home, to which, we 
surmise, she did not return till after our 
Saviour had interceded for her with her 
brother and sister. 

Her wayward heart had been trans- 
formed. Her eyes, whose flashing beauty 
had been a snare to herself and others, 
now served her to weep penitential tears 
upon the feet of 'Jesus, her beautiful tress- 
es humbly to wipe them, and her lips, 
made clean by many earnest words of true 
contrition, privileged to kiss those feet 
whose unwearied zeal pursues lost souls 
through the briers and rocks of every hu- 
man misery. What our Saviour valued 
most in Mary's case was the love in hei 
heart, whose depths were stirred with gratitude, deer, 
and true in proportion to her former degradation. 

The public penances inflicted by the Church foi 
open vice which characterized the heroic age of Chris- 
tianity had their beginning in Simon's dining-hal 



THE MAGDALEN. 



279 



that day, as Mary the public harlot, lately released by 
the word or look or thought of Jesus from seven devils 
of uncleanness, sought her pardon in this open way, 
as she had with open scandal sinned against her 
Maker and her fellow-creatures. 

But after Jesus had set Simon right, He adminis- 
tered a rebuke to him, a bitter one surely, for it com- 
pared him unfavorably with this converted harlot. 
It is not seldom that a reformed Christian sets an 
example which puts an innocent Christian to the 
blush. Poor Mary had not spoken ; so much did 
mingled grief and joy monopolize her heart that her 
tongue could find no words. But she was eloquent, 
none the less, by her affectionate humility. "And 
turning to the woman, He said unto Simon : Dost thou 
see this woman? I entered into thy house: thou 
gavest Me no water for My feet ; but she with tears 
hath washed My feet, and with her hair hath wiped 
them. Thou gavest Me no kiss, but she, since she 
came in, hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head 
with oil thou didst not anoint, but she with ointment 
hath anointed My feet. Wherefore I say to thee, 
many sins are forgiven her, because she hath 
loved much. But to whom less is forgiven, he 
loveth less. And He said to her, Thy sins are 
forgiven thee." How happy a lot for Simon 
if such words could have been said to him ! 
But this was a gloomy outlook for Jesus — the 
state of mind revealed by Simon's objec- 
tions. What could a Redeemer hope for 
when the best and most influential of the 
people were shocked at His love of sin- 
ners, and grumbled at the forgiveness of 
sins ? ' ' And they that sat at meat with 

Him began tO Say within themselves: "Many sins are forgiven her." 




28o 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




"Thy faith hath made thee safe." 



Who is this that forgiveth sins also ? And He said to 
the woman : Thy faith hath made thee safe. Go in 
peace." 

But if faith had saved her, love enchained her. Go 
away she would not. She becomes a close friend and 
follower of Jesus. The converted prostitute is one of 
the high personages in the history of Christ's mission, 
a chosen witness of His death and resurrection. 



A T NAZARETH AGAIN. 



281 



CHAPTER XXX. 

AT NAZARETH AGAIN. 

Matt. xiii. 54.-58 ; Mark vi. 1-6 ; Luke viz. 11-iy. 

HATEVKR mystery hides the re- 
jection of our Saviour by the peo- 
C)ple of Nazareth, His love for them 




is in the open day. He returned 
— probably at this time — to His 
early home, that His suspicious 
and jealous fellow- townsmen might 
be allowed to atone for their previous rejection of 
Him, and might offer some of their better spirits as 
members of His apostolate. Many disciples went with 
Him to Nazareth, and as He appeared in the synagogue 
at the Sabbath meeting, their enthusiasm and the news 
of His wonderful works gained Him at least a respect- 
able reception. The halo of mira- 
cles encircled His brow, " and many 
were in admiration at His doctrine." 
Yes ; but it was not the admiration 
of docile spirits, but of vain men 
puzzled by a mystery and resenting 
its difficulty : ' ' How came this Man 
by all these things ? ' ' The curios- 
ity of a humble soul is the seed of 
faith ; but the people of Nazareth 
had judicial curiosity. They would 
seek truth as its masters and not as 
its servants. Among themselves 
they talked over the family of Jesus, 
as if each humble name of mother, 
father, cousins (called by Jewish 
custom brothers and sisters) was 



IS NOT THIS THE CARPENTER ? 

And going out from thence, he went into 
his own country, and his disciples followed 
him. And when the Sabbath was come, he 
began to teach in the synagogue : and 
many hearing him were in admiration at 
his doctrine, saying : How came this man 
by all these things ? and what wisdom is 
this which is given to him, and such 
miracles as are wrought by his hands ? Is 
not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the 
brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, 
and Simon ? Are not also his sisters here 
with us ? And they were scandalized in 
regard of him. And Jesus said to them : 
A prophet is not without honor save in his 
own country, and in his own house, and 
among his own kindred. And he could 
not do many miracles there, only that he 
cured a few that were sick, laying his 
hands upon them, and he wondered be- 
cause of their unbelief. And he went 
through the villages, cities, and towns, teach- 
ing in their synagogues and preaching the 
Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every 
disease and every infirmity. 



282 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

an injury to the great Prophet's mission: "Is not 
this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of 
James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon ? Are 
not also his sisters here with us ? " They were men 
who would rather see wisdom and virtue discredited 
by the lowry social state of its teacher, than witness 
that social state elevated by even a divine exponent. 
Part of the teaching of Jesus was that wisdom came 
more by gift of God than \>y human study, and if 
they must choose between believing that or holding 
Him an impostor, they preferred the latter alterna- 
tive. 

The Evangelist says that Jesus ' ' wondered at theii 
unbelief." He repeated the reproach of His former 
visit : "A prophet is not without honor save in his 
own country, and in his own house, and among his 
own kindred." He went away, having been hindered 
in working miracles by the lack of faith, only a few 
that were sick having been cured by His ' ' laying His 
hands upon them." Soon this heavy air of selfishness 
was changed for the congenial atmosphere of the 
towns and villages of the adjacent country, which gave 
Him hearty welcome. He taught "in their syna- 
gogues, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and 
healing every disease and every infirmity." 



EVANGELIZING GALILEE. 283 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

EVANGELIZING GAUI,EE. THE DEVOUT WOMEN WHO 

MINISTERED TO JESUS. 

Luke viii. 2, 3. 

JESUS had now both organized His Church and 
set it a pattern of how to teach. He thereupon 
"travelled through the cities and towns, preaching 
and evangelizing the Kingdom of God." The whole 
country of Galilee and parts of the adjacent provinces 
saw Him and heard His doctrine, sometimes in their 
synagogues, oftener in the open air in pleasant coun- 
try places. We know little of the details of this 
journeying, or of the meetings and miracles which 
marked it. It was like the march of the sun from 
morning to evening across the hemisphere distribut- 
ing warmth and light, or rather, like the sailing of 
a fleet of richly laden vessels, trading from port to 
port ; Jesus everywhere left His blessed promise of 
eternal life, His treasure of how to know truth and 
practise virtue, and He carried away the only pay- 
ment He ever exacted, the loving profession of faith : 
' ' This is indeed the Son of God ! " To be acknowl- 
edged and loved as the Messias by the people, to 
be hailed as a deliverer by repentant sinners, to be 
sincerely thanked by the sick and miserable whom 
He helped, and meantime to introduce His Apostles 
as the continuators of His mission, — these were His 
only purposes. The Twelve were ever with Him. 
His most intimate teaching was for them, and by it 
they were won to closer and closer ties of affection. 
Sometimes He sent some of them in advance to pre- 
pare for His- coming, both for the answering of ques- 
tions and for the housing and comfort of the whole 



2 8 4 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



apostolate. He was seldom unaccompanied by a great 
throng of men and women. The people of one town 
would follow Him nearly or quite to the gates of an- 
other, singing the solemn music of the Hebrew Psalms, 
or pausing to listen to a discourse or witness a 
miracle. 

The Evangelists tell us that a band of women had 
joined our Saviour's Apostolate and accompanied Him 
in all His journeys. No wonder that they did so. 
He was woman's emancipator. It is Jesus who has 
made the wife the equal of the husband, it is He who 
has given the daughter liberty to consecrate herself 
to charity and religion. He it was who elevated 
motherhood to a divine dignity in Mary of Nazareth. 
Bringing up the rear of His picturesque Oriental 
procession and riding on mules would be seen this 
party of women, who had become a sort of organized 
body among the Master's following: ' Certain wo- 
men who had been healed of evil spirits and 
infirmities, Mary who is called Magdalen, 
out of whom seven devils were gone forth, 
and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's 
steward, and Susanna." But there were 
others who had taken up the double voca- 
tion of serving Jesus and His Apostles in 
their domestic life and forming the woman's 
part of the apostleship : "And many others 
who ministered unto Him of their sub- 
\ stance." Was Mary the mother of Jesus 
£V \ among them ? Without doubt ; for we have 

St. Luke's account of her asking to 
see Him during one of His discourses, 
being accompanied at the time by the 
family of her kinswoman, Mary Cleo- 
phas. If she is not named among the 




Certain women who had been healed 
of infirmities." 




WOMEN WHO MINISTERED JO JESUS. 285 

women who usually accompanied our Saviour, this 
is because her presence was taken for granted. She 
must have been these women's very queen. They must 
have sought her out by instinct as the noblest 
of their sex, and have honored her according 
to her station. As the three Synoptics do not 
make any more detailed mention of her in 
this connection, we are left to conjecture as 
to how closely she followed our Lord. Per- 
haps this omission was by an understanding 
between Mary and these Evangelists. But joanna, the wife of 
neither the high office of Mary as Mother of chusa. 

Jesus, nor the certainty of her close relationship to 
some of the women named, will allow us to suppose 
that she remained alone at home. Can we fancy the 
Master leaving His mother at Nazareth, now be- 
come a most uncongenial abode for her? Could He 
gather about Him a band of ministering women and 
not place His mother at their head ? 

Those who are named include Salome, the mother 
of James and John, and Mary Cleophas, either Mary's 
sister or sister-in-law. This assemblage made part of 
the Messias' community of " many women," the origi- 
nal of the communities of sisters and of nuns which 
have been the pride of the Christian Church from that 
day to this. Without the aid of women little good 
has ever been done for God or man, and in Christ's 
Church women's work and women's prayer have been 
an organic part of the divine plan of salvation. Its 
life is a corporate one, public, fully supported by 
the Church's authority, and honored by God with an 
unbroken succession of saints. Not less useful for 
God's Church, not less saintly, has been the vast 
multitude of women whose cloister has been the holy 
shrine of the Christian family. As wives and mothers, 



286 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

or as virgins living in the midst of the world, Catho- 
lic women are the mainstay of religion. By their 
generosity to works of charity, by their unswerving 
loyalty, by their patient instruction of youth, by their 
pious endurance of the gross vices of their husbands, 
fathers, and brothers, or their fervent emulation of 
the virtues of the men, the female sex has shown its 
gratitude for the dignity bestowed upon it by Christ as 
well as its worthiness of His favors, and has developed 
a wonderful capacity for varied and resourceful re- 
ligious activity. In our Saviour's life women stand 
forth in heroic prominence. As He and His Apostles 
had a common purse and lived upon the charity of 
the people, so were they greatly helped by the presence 
and zeal of this association of women. 




MARY CLKOPHAS. 



SENDING FORTH THE TWELVE APOSTLES. 287 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE SENDING FORTH OF THE . TWELVE APOSTLES.— 
THE APOSTOLIC VIRTUES. 

Matt. iv. 23, and ix. 36-38, and xi. 1 ; Mark vi. J-13 ; 
Luke viii. 1, and ix. 1-6. 

How ardently our Saviour must have longed to 
be everywhere and to give a share of His teaching to 
everybody ! ' ' And seeing the multitudes He had 
compassion on them, because they were distressed and 
lying like sheep that have no shepherd. Then He 
saith to His disciples : The harvest indeed is great, 
but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the L,ord 
of the harvest, that He send forth laborers into His 
harvest." Prayer for vocations to 



the Apostolic ministry is here in- 
culcated. 

Jesus would make His followers 
competent harvesters both by breath- 
ing His own spirit into them and 
by giving them the lessons of per- 
sonal experience. This latter meth- 
od of forming them He was now 
the more anxious to begin because 
He was soon to leave Galilee and 
its favorably disposed people for the 
harder field of Judea. Hence " He 
sent them, two and two, to preach 
the Kingdom of God and to cure 
the sick." He also gave them 
power over unclean spirits. But 
He forbade them to go to the Gen- 
tiles or the Samaritans — they were 
not yet fitted to contend with the 



THE APOSTOLIC CHARTER. 

And having called his twelve disciples 
together, he gave them power over unclean 
spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all 
manner of diseases and all manner of in- 
firmities. And he sent them, two and two, 
to preach the Kingdom of God, and to 
cure the sick. These twelve Jesus sent, 
commanding them, saying : Go ye not into 
the way of the Gentiles, and into the cities 
of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go ye 
rather to the lost sheep of the house of 
Israel. And going preach, saying, The 
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the 
sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, 
cast out devils ; freely have you received, 
freely give. And he commanded them 
that they should take nothing for the 
journey, but a staff only. Do not possess 
gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses, 
nor scrip for your journey, nor bread, 
nor two coats, nor shoes, but to be shod 
with sandals, nor a staff, for the workman 
is worthy of his hire. And into whatsoever 
town you shall enter, inquire who in it is 
worthy ; and there abide till you go thence. 
And when you come into the house, salute 
it, saying : Peace be to this house. And 
if that house be worthy, your peace shall 
come upon it ; but if it be not worthy, your 
peace shall return to you. 



28S 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



"And He 



difficulties of the heathen or semi-heathen. "But," 
said He, " go rather to the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel." This indicates that for the present they 
were to confine their teaching to those moral precepts 
so conspicuous in the Sermon on the Mount, repen- 
tance for sin and the love of God and one's neigh- 
bor ; they were to avoid what would arouse the Phari- 
sees ; but yet announcing the formation of the new 
brotherhood, God's Kingdom, His Church. "And 
going, preach, saying, The Kingdom of Heaven is at 
hand." Then He adds the stupendous words : " Heal 
the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out 
devils." His closing words are the rule of poverty 
for all Christian missionaries : ' ' Freely [that is to 
say, without price] have you received, freely give." 
Upon this point He enlarges, outlining the Gospel 
way of behaving when one stands forth as the proxy 
of Jesus Christ. The first virtue of the apostolic man 
is Apostolic Poverty : "And He commanded them that 
they should take nothing for the 
journey, but a staff only. Do not 
possess gold, nor silver, nor money 
in your purses, nor scrip for your 
journey, nor bread, nor two coats, 
nor shoes." And later on, in a re- 
petition of this same charge He even 
takes away their staff. Never was 
a sterner purpose more emphatically, 
almost fiercely, insisted on than this 
of Jesus to have His disciples a body 
of men entirely detached from even 
the ordinary comforts of life. It is 
the Gospel rule of voluntary poverty, 
sent them, two and two." This implies His rule of Apostolic 

Celibacy. There is no mention of 




j THE APOSTOLIC VIRTUES. 289 

I home, or of care of wife or child. Indeed nowhere 
in the entire Gospel history, from the preaching of 
John on the Jordan till that of Paul in Rome, is 
the family life of union with wife and children 
named in connection with the Apostles, save the 
cure of Peter's mother-in-law. How could a man 
take nothing for his journey, nor possess gold and 
silver, nor provide bread or clothing, and support 
his wife and children? As to Peter's wife, she is 
nowhere mentioned first or last. Could she be living 
and not be named among the women who followed 
and ministered to the I^ord ? It is altogether probable 
that she was dead when Peter was called ; also that 
the other Apostles were and continued to be all un- 
married men. Thus began, as one form of detach- 
ment from the ordinary joys of human existence, 
the institution known as the Celibacy of the Clergy — 
an Apostolic institution which has been ever since 
the usual rule in the Christian ministry. Fulfilling 
such requirements of their Master, Christian mis- 
sionaries are sure of winning men's hearts, for noth- 
ing but the foulest hate can resist teachers whose lives 
are as self-denying as their doctrine is elevating. 

Another Apostolic virtue inculcated here is that 
of Peacefulness. Our Lord gave a new meaning to 
the Oriental salutation, Peace be to this house ! when 
pronounced by the Ambassadors of the Prince of 
Peace. But this peacefulness was too often met by 
the sword : " I came not to send peace but the sword." 
The Peace of Christ provokes the sword of Christ's 
adversary. The Glad Tidings have always acted on 
a community like some powerful acid which detects 
and separates substances in solution — the preaching 
of the Gospel reveals the poison in men's souls, it 
divides the evil-minded from the good, it elicits, it 



290 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

provokes persecution. Our Saviour forbids retaliation, 
even resistance. Yet " whosoever shall not receive 
you nor hear your words, going forth out of that 
house or city, shake off even the dust from your 
feet, for a testimony against them. Amen, I say to 
you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of 
Sodom and Gomorrha in the Day of Judgment than 
for that city." To take the truth of Christ or leave 
it, as one may choose, is not allowed. Jesus is sensi- 
tive as to what kind of reception His messengers re- 
ceive. "He that receiveth you," He says a little 
further on, " receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me 
receiveth Him that sent Me." Nor does He hesitate 
to claim a kindly welcome for the lowliest representa- 
tives of truth and virtue: "He that receiveth a 
prophet in the name of a prophet, hath the reward 
of a prophet ; and he that receiveth a just man in 
the name of a just man, shall receive the reward 
of a just man." These words are as so many keys 
to the safety- vaults of the devout rich, as they 
are a promise of a share in the Apostolic heritage 
for all who help to spread the knowledge and love 
of Jesus Christ. Together with the Peacefulness of 
the Apostles' message, Jesus inculcates the Spirit 
of Martyrdom : I arm you (as if He had 
said) with the olive branch, and it will be 
beaten out of your hands by the sword of 
your enemies. Jesus foretells that the re- 
compense of peace shall be arraign- 
ment of the Apostles and their suc- 
cessors before Jewish councils and 
pagan judges, expulsion from the 
synagogues and the family circle — 
love repaid by hate, by torture, by 
death. He comforts them by remind- 




SHOD WITH SANDALS. 



THE APOSTOLIC HERITAGE. 

ing them of His example. Shall 
they repine at being called disturbers 
of the peace when they have heard 
their Master called Beelzebub? 

Confidence in God is to be, there- 
fore, another distinguishing trait 
of the Apostles. L,et them fear 
neither man nor devil, neither Phari- 
see nor heathen, but boldly and 
openly attack falsehood and vice, 
and enforce the claims of divine 
truth, giving to the whole world the 
teaching He gave them in His many 
quiet hours of communion with 
them : What if they do kill you ? 
your souls they cannot hurt. Your 
Father in Heaven, who lovingly 
cares for the little birds which sing 
His praises in the trees and hedges, 
will He not safeguard your eternal 
welfare, you who proclaim His Glad 
Tidings of salvation to the whole 
world ? 

Conscious Union with the Spirit 
of Christ is another Apostolic charac- 
teristic. ' • Every one that shall con- 
fess Me before men, I will also con- 
fess him before My Father who is in 
Heaven." What an inspiration to 
Apostolic courage — that as the 
Apostle proclaims Christ to men, 
Christ proclaims the Apostle to the 
Heavenly Father ! The Master and 
the disciple thus act together. " I 
live, now not I, but Christ liveth 

in me." 

291 



THE APOSTOLIC HERITAGE. 

Behold 1 send you as sheep in the midst 
of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents 
and simple as doves. But beware of men, 
for they will deliver you up in councils, and 
they will scourge you in their synagogues ; 
and you shall be brought before governors 
and before kings for my sake, for a testi- 
mony to them and to the Gentiles. But 
when they shall deliver you up, take no 
thought how or what to speak, for it shall 
be given you in that hour what to speak. 
For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit 
of your Father that speaketh in you. The 
brother also shall deliver up the brother to 
death, and the father the son, and the chil- 
dren shall rise up against their parents, and 
shall put them to death. And you shall be 
hated by all men for My Name's sake, but 
he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall 
be saved. And when they shall persecute 
you in this city, flee into another. Amen I 
say to you, you shall not finish all the cities 
of Israel till the Son of Man come. The 
disciple is not above the master, nor the 
servant above his lord. It is enough for the 
disciple that he be as his master, and the 
servant as his lord. If they have called the 
good man of the house Beelzebub, how 
much more them of his household ? There- 
fore fear them not. For nothing is covered 
that shall not be revealed, nor hid that shall 
not be known. That which I tell you in 
the dark, speak ye in the light, and that 
which you hear in the ear, preach ye upon 
the housetops. And fear ye not them that 
kill the body, and are not able to kill the 
soul, but rather fear him that can destroy 
both body and soul into hell. Are not two 
sparrows sold for a farthing ? and not one 
of them shall fall to the ground without 
your Father. But the very hairs of your 
head are all numbered . Fear not therefore ; 
better are you than many sparrows. Every 
one therefore that shall confess me before 
men, I will also confess him before my 
Father who is in Heaven. But he that 
shall deny me before men, I will also deny 
him before my Father who is in Heaven. 
Do not think that I came to send peace upon 
earth. I came not to send peace but the 
sword. For I came to set a man at vari- 
ance against his father, and the daughter 
against her mother, and the daughter-in- 
law against her mother-in-law. And a man's 
enemies shall be they of his own house- 
hold. He that loveth father or mother 
more than me, is not worthy of me ; and 
he that loveth son or daughter more than 
me, is not worthy of me. And he that 
taketh not up his cross and followeth me, is 
not worthy of me. He that findeth his life 
shall lose it, and he that shall lose his life 
for me, shall find it. 



292 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

This, then, is the Apostolic Heritage. It is all sum- 
marized in Zeal for Souls, the first and last motive of 
the Apostle's life. In his case every other virtue is 
subsidiary to this thirst for souls, this torment of 
spirit to aid Christ the Redeemer in seeking and 
saving sinners. Detachment from worldly goods and 
from the privileges and the joys of the married state, 
entire self-immolation, peacefulness and patience under 
injuries, the spirit of martyrdom, absolute confidence - 
in Divine Providence, intimate union with Christ's : 
Spirit in the inner life — all are inspired by love of : 
souls, and in turn intensify the Apostolic thirst to \ 
labor and to suffer for men's salvation. This love ; 
of souls is the love of Christ. The Apostle, as he'* 
loves Christ, loves the souls of men — more than race j 
or country, father or mother or wife or child. Zeal- 
for souls is pre-eminently the Apostolic virtue. We c 
shall find our Saviour at a later day returning to 
this subject on occasion of sending forth the seventy- 
two disciples, and inculcating in much the same terms 
the very same Apostolic traits of character here de-? 
picted with such glowing fervor. After His address- 
to them, Jesus, we may not doubt, opened wide His^ 
arms and pressed His well-loved Apostles one by one to^ 
His bosom, and so sent them forth. As they set out 
two and two together on this first Apostolic invasion 
of the realms of darkness, Jesus turned to the mul- 
titude, and pointing after them with tender affection, 
exclaimed : "Whosoever shall give but a cup of cold 
water to one of these My little ones because he is My 
disciple, I say to you that he shall not go with- 
out his reward." 

Their success was immediate, both as teachers and 
as wonder-workers : ( ' And going forth they preached 
that men should do penance, and they cast out many 



PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES. 293 

devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, 
I and healed them." * Meantime, and while they were 
' thus scattered through the country places, Jesus con- 
| tinued His own preaching in the towns and cities. 
! " And it came to pass when Jesus had made an end 
I of commanding His twelve disciples, He passed from 
thence to teach and preach in their cities." 

This preaching of the Apostles was to be only ex- 
perimental, a part of their training for the work to 
be done after the complete organization of the Church 
by the coming of the Holy Ghost. But it had its 
good effects. And when a few years afterwards these 
same men, wholly perfected and transfigured, shall 
again appear and preach the Kingdom of God, their 
present mission will have prepared the way. Mean- 
time our Saviour soon draws them back to His com- 
pany, for with them and their training is He most 
particularly concerned. 



* This ceremony was doubtless a foreshadowing of that consoling- 
Sacrament of the New Law, Extreme Unction. St. James (v. 14) gives in 
detail the form and substance of it as afterwards instituted by Christ : " Is 
any man sick among you ? Let him bring in the priests of the Church, and 
let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man ; and the Lord shall raise 
him up : and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him." 



2 9 4 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



a?id viii. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

THE OPPOSITION OP THE PHARISEES. — THE BUND 

AND DUMB DEVIL. — CHRIST AND BEELZEBUB. 

"BLESSED IS THE WOMB THAT BORE THEE." — 
THE MOTHER OP JESUS AND HIS BRETHREN. 

Matt. xii. 22-50 ; Mark Hi. 22-35 >' Luke xi. 17-36, 

19-21. 

Many of the Pharisees had 
long known that Jesus of Naza- 
reth was winning the people to 
a spirit opposed to their own, 
and this was shown conclusive- 
ly by the Sermon on the Mount 
and the public pardon of Mary 
Magdalen. The leading class 
in Israel, the Pharisees and 
Scribes, were longing for the 
national independence of their 
own race, and Jesus was bent 
on saving all mankind from sin and hell. They 
were, furthermore, fanatically addicted to outward re- 
ligious observances — this had grown to be the supreme 
purpose of the Mosaic law with them ; Jesus inces- 
santly inculcated the interior virtues, and preached 
the supremacy of God's mercy. He knew that Israel 
had run its course as a secular power, and that He 
was sent to use its best spirits for a new, a high, a 
supernatural career, compared with which the glories 
of David and Solomon were but faint suggestions of 
the divine favor to man. But it is plain that the 
racial traits of the Jews, their love of pure Hebrew 
blood and aversion for the foreigner, though well 
calculated to carry down safely the promises of God 




THE OPPOSITION OF THE PHARISEES. 



295 



and to make sure of the prophetic identity of the 
Saviour, were hard to adjust to the international char- 
acter of the Christian religion. When the Gospel of 
Christ, therefore, was developed so fully as to show 
its incompatibility with the racial ambitions of the 
Pharisees, these agitators, these fierce conspirators, 
set to work to destroy the Carpenter's Son. And 
from now on to the end this purpose gives a dark 
hour to every day in the life of our Saviour. They 
belittle His power, they malign His motives, they 
accuse Him of blasphemy, of disloyalty, of heresy. 
Unscrupulous and blood-thirsty, they are beforehand 
with Him in His journeys, sowing calumnies against 
Him. They seek to embroil Him with popular 
prejudices, to implicate Him in rebellion against the 
Roman usurper. 

This accounts for their accusation of diabolism, 
when on arriving at Capharnaum Jesus exorcised a 
man possessed of a blind and dumb devil so that 
the man spoke and saw. What enraged the Phari- 
sees was the cry of the people : "Is not this the Son 
of David ? But the Pharisees and the Scribes, who 
were come down from Jerusalem, said : He hath 
Beelzebub, and by the prince 
of devils He casteth out 
devils." Jesus turned their 
dreadful accusation to His 
own account, a custom of 
His to which we are indebted 
for some of His best instruc- 
tions. He called the peo- 
ple together, and, securing d(i "7~? 
silence, said : " ' How can V] ^ l 
Satan cast out Satan ? And » 

if a kingdom be divided " Sowing calumnies against 




Him," 



296 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

against itself, that kingdom cannot stand ; and if a 
house be divided against itself, that house cannot 
stand. And if Satan be risen up against himself, he 
is divided, and cannot stand, but hath an end." A 
little good sense, calmly spoken, which has passed 
into a universal maxim. But Jesus drove it home for 
His supernatural mission. He referred to the exor- 
cisms of the Jewish rabbis: "And if I by Beelzebub 
cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them 
out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I 
by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the King- 
dom of God come upon you." 

What follows is a note of triumph over the 
demon. Jesus has entered into this poor world as 
into Satan's very den, has stricken him a mortal blow, 
and broken the fetters from his victims' limbs : 
11 When a strong man armed keepeth his court, those 
things are in peace which he possesseth. But if a 
stronger than he come upon him, and overcome him, 
he will take away all his armor wherein he trusted, 
and will distribute his spoils." " How can any one 
enter the house of the strong and rifle his goods, un- 
less he first bind the strong ? and then he will rifle 
his house." And upon this He turns to His friendly 
hearers and boldly urges an open display of their 
belief in Him ; all or nothing is the divine demand : 
' ' He that is not with Me is against Me, and he that 
gathereth not with Me scattereth." And then to 
the group of His enemies who had blasphemed the 
Spirit of God in attributing to the demon the cure of 
the man possessed : " Therefore I say to you, every 
sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but the 
blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And 
whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, 
it shall be forgiven him ; but he that shall speak 






THE OPPOSITION OF THE PHARISEES. 



297 



against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, 
neither in this world nor in the world to come. Be- 
cause they said, He hath an unclean spirit. Either 
make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the 
tree evil and its fruit evil. For by the fruit the 
tree is known." 

This is one of those reverent tributes which Jesus 
pays to the Divine Spirit, only paralleled by His 
loving and obedient homage to His Father. The 
Father and the Son and the Spirit 
are everywhere in the Gospel, 
working and speaking by the or- 
gan of the Son made Man. No- 
thing is clearer than the father- 
hood of the Deity, the divine son- 
ship of Jesus, the overruling pre- 
sence of the Holy Ghost, each dis- 
tinct from the others, and all three 
one in essence, in being, in deity. 
The crime of rejecting the Son, 
hateful though it be, is outranked 
by that of rejecting the Spirit that 
is in the Son, blinding one's self 
wilfully to the good actually before 
one's eyes, first opposing a messen- 
ger of God and finally opposing 
everything he does, no matter how 
good. It is to pass from befouling 
the king's standard to personally 
insulting the king himself.* 




OUTWARD RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES. 



* St. Augustine calls attention to the glimpse of future states of par- 
don and punishment given by our Saviour in the words just quoted. For, 
says the saint in substance, how can there be pardon in the next life, except 
ih Purgatory ? Jesus here assumes in His hearers the belief in a middle 
state of souls, those who are yet making amends ere they can be called 
to heaven—a belief then as now universal among the Jews. 



298 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




FORM OF ASKING FAVORS. 



Then follows a terrible arraignment of the evil 
tongues and hearts of Jesus' enemies: **0 generation 
of vipers, how can you speak good things, whereas 
you are evil ? for out of the abundance of the heart 
the mouth speaketh. A good man out of a 
good treasure bringeth forth good things, and 
an evil man out of an evil treasure bringeth 
forth evil things." And He then affirms the 
responsibility of ordinary mortals for even 
trifling sins of speech : what shall be the torment of 
those who revel in blasphemy and calumny ? ' ' But 
I say unto you 5 that every idle word that men shall 
speak, they shall render an account for in the day 
of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justi- 
fied, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." 
Let us apply this terrible test to ourselves. It was 
the Pharisees' hard words from their hard hearts, 
their pitiless pursuit of violators of minute laws, and 
their habit of sitting in judgment on others that 
caused our gentle Saviour to single them out for 
condemnation — and the same faults will, perhaps, bring 
upon us the same fate. Even the idle words of a 
bitter soul spread misery around, not only among 
enemies but even among friends. 

"Master," said some one, "we would have a 
sign from Thee " — meaning a sign in the heavens. It 
was a challenge to Him to emulate Samuel, who had 
made the thunder roll ; or Elias, who had called 
down fire from heaven ; or Josue, who had caused the 
sun to stand still. But Jesus would not reward wil- 
ful incredulity with preternatural arguments. He 
would cleave the heavens and ascend into them at 
the end of His sojourn on earth. But before open- 
ing the gates of the skies at His Ascension, He will 
first conquer death, the fell prince of the tomb. He 



THE OPPOSITION OF THE PHARISEES. 



299 



accordingly answered: "An evil and adulterous gen- 
eration seeketh a sign, and a sign shall not be given 
it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas 
was in the whale's belly three days and three nights, 
so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth 
three days and three nights." And He reproached 
them with the example of the Ninevites : "For as 
Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son 
of Man be also to this generation. The men of 
Nineve shall rise in judgment with this generation, 
and shall condemn it, because they did penance at 
the preaching of Jonas, and behold a greater than 
Jonas here. The Queen of the South shall rise in 
judgment with this generation and shall condemn 
it, because she came from the ends of the earth to 
hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater than 
Solomon here." The heavenly Father had made Jesus 
the light of the world : ' ' No man lighteth a candle 
and putteth it in a hidden place nor under a bushel, 
but upon a candlestick, that they that come in 
may see the light." 

Wilful blindness to the light on the part of a 
Jew, a servant of God, was a more grievous 
offence than that of the heathen. Our Saviour 
shows this by a picture of the added ferocity 
of the demon again assaulting and again over- 
coming one who had previous^ expelled him : 
"And when an unclean spirit is gone out 
of a man, he walketh through dry places, 
seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, 
I will return into my house from whence I 
came out. And coming he findeth it empty, 
swept and garnished. Then he goeth and 
taketh with him seven other spirits more 
wicked than himself, and they enter in and 




"We would have a sign 
from Thee." 



3oo LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse 
than the first. So shall it be also to this wicked 
generation." 

A woman in the crowd, eagerly listening to this 
powerful eloquence, was rapt into a sort of ecstatic 
envy of her who was privileged to be the Mother of 
Jesus, and she cried out: "Blessed is the womb 
that bore Thee, and the breasts that gave Thee 
suck." Jesus answered : " Yea rather, blessed are they 
that hear the word of God and keep it." The stream 
of His zeal was at the moment running strong for 
interior union with God and bore along with it His 
answer. Mary the Mother of Jesus was first saluted 
by the angel as full of grace, and on that account the 
Holy Ghost chose her to be Mother of the Messias. 
Not the womb nor the breasts nor the royal blood, 
but the sanctity of soul in that greatest among women 
entitled her to be called blessed. And every soul 
must hearken to God and obey and love Him ; other- 
wise whatever blessed office it may have will rest upon 
it as jewels upon a corpse. It was because Mary had 
first conceived the Son of God in her soul that she 
was chosen to conceive Him in her womb. 

Returning to the mystery of evil in the Pharisees 
Jesus thus explained it: "If thine eye be single thy 
whole body shall be lightsome. But if thine eye 
be evil thy body shall be in darkness." The eye 
of the soul is the intention. What did these men 
mean by their hostility to Jesus ? They meant am- 
bition. Lust of power was their passion. Their soul's 
eye was bloodshot with the violence of their impulse to 
rule. Hence hate, lying, treachery, and they ended 
with deicide ; all the while they assumed the air of de- 
votees to the faith of Israel. "Take heed therefore 
that the light which is in thee be not darkness. 



THE OPPOSITION OF THE PHARISEES. 



301 



If then thy whole body be lightsome, having no part 
of darkness, the whole shall be lightsome, and as a 
bright lamp shall enlighten thee." 

Meantime, "As He was yet speaking to the mul- 
titudes, behold His Mother and His brethren stood 
without seeking to speak to Him" — to call Him, per- 
haps, to His forgotten nourishment, or to keep some 
appointment. We have already seen that Mary must 
have been in the company of her Son since He began 
His public life: Her household would include her 
nieces and nephews, numbered among the disciples 
of Jesus and named His brothers and sisters by Jewish 
custom. This public occasion was chosen by Him to 
show the universality of His kinship, being no less 
affectionate by the grace of God than by the closest 
natural ties : ' ' Who is My mother, and who are My 
brethren ? And stretching forth His hand towards His 
disciples, He said : Behold My mother and My breth- 
ren. For whosoever shall do the will of My Father 
that is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and 
mother." 

Compare this with the words addressed by Jesus 
from the Cross to Mary and 
John, and you have the whole 
mind of Jesus on the relation 
we bear to His blood rela- 
tions, and especially to Mary. 
The divine sonship is ours by 
union with Christ, and this 
comes through the motherhood 
of Mary ; again, His brother- 
hood with us is brought about 
by the same instrumentality. 
It is one of the curiosities of 
religious error that these words 




WASHING BEFORE MEAT. 



302 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



of Jesus, which really elevate us to a family union 
with Himself and His mother, should have been per- 
verted to mean His publicly belittling His beloved 
mother to the place of an ordinary parent. If faith 
be ''the root and foundation of all righteousness," 
then is Mary the choicest fruit of faith, for she free- 
ly believed God's messenger with a simpler trust and 
concerning a far higher mystery than did Abraham, 
the father of all the faithful. If love be the fulness 
of all righteousness, then is Mary superior to all her 
fellow-mortals, for her love is that of the most perfect 
mother for a Divine Son, 




•• Behold My brethren." 



TEACHING B Y PARABLES. 303 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

TEACHING BY PARABLES. — THK SOWER. — THE CANDLE. 
— THE MUSTARD-SEED. — THE LEAVEN. — THE 
COCKLE. — THE HIDDEN TREASURE. — THE PEARL 
OF GREAT PRICE. — THE NET. — NEW THINGS AND 
OLD. 

Matt. xiii. 1-53 ; Mark iv. 1-34 ; Luke viii. 4, 18, and 
xiii. 18—21. 

Jesus made an end of reproaching His enemies and 
of disclosing their evil motives. He rested for a time 
with His disciples and then journeyed along the lake 
shore. The peaceful country-side, the clear waters, the 
beautiful sky, shed peace like a gentle dew upon the 
hearts of all. 

As the Master resumed His regular teaching, He 
developed a style of instruction peculiarly His own; 
and it is that of all teachers who faithfully pattern on 
Him : He taught in parables. His discourses were 
pictures of men and things named for His doctrines, 
as in a theatre the players are named for the char- 
acters they personate. The imagination is the picture- 
book of the soul, the theatre of the intelligence, the 
account-book of the conscience. Hence the sermons 
of Jesus are pictured truth and virtue. Not all the 
poets of the world have gained so high a power over 
men's imagination as Jesus Christ. The poetry of 
the Old Testament, easily best in all literature of 
the ancients, is surpassed in simple grandeur by the 
Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. It is in 
the poetry of songs and legends that the world learns 
the best human wisdom, and in the parables of Christ 
the truest religion. 



304 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Furthermore, the parables of Jesus set men dis- 
cussing, for they were often a sort of riddles, to be 
solved only after some guessing ; and this deepened 
the lesson. Our Saviour's immediate disciples, how- 
ever, had not so great a need of the parables, for 
to them were given His constant care, His incessant 
teaching ; it was theirs ' ' to know the mystery of 
the Kingdom of God; but to others in parables." 
Jesus draws His figures from every familiar scene and 
object — fishermen and farmers at work, money-lenders 
and their debtors, kings and their armies, the birds 
in the air and the grass in the fields, the trees in the 
orchard, the vineyard and its keeper and laborers, the 
busy housewife making bread, the lucky treasure- 
finder. His purpose in all this He summed up in 
answer to one of their questions: "And His dis- 
ciples came and said to Him : Why speakest Thou to 
them in parables ? Who answered and said to them : 
Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of 
the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given. 
For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he 
shall abound ; but he that hath not, from him shall 
be taken away that also which he hath. Therefore, 
do I speak to them in parables, because seeing they 
see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they 
understand. And the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled 
in them, who saith : By hearing you shall hear, and 
shall not understand ; and seeing you shall see, and shall 
not perceive. For the heart of this people is grown gross, 
and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and 
their eyes they have shut, lest at any time they should see 
with their eyes, and hear with their ears, a?id under- 
stand with their heart, and be converted and I should 
heal them. But blessed are your eyes because they 
see, and your ears because they hear. For Amen I 



TEACHING BY PARABLES. 



3°5 



say to you, many prophets and just men have desired 
to see the things that you see, and have not seen 
them, and to hear the things that you hear, and have 
not heard them." 



THE PARABL-E OP THE SOWER. 



The crowd surged about Him so 
thickly that He again chose a boat 
for His pulpit, one belonging, doubt- 
less, to His Apostles, which may 
have followed His movements along 
the shore. 

To the Apostles Jesus gave a 
special explanation of this parable 
in sentences of wonderful force. 
What can exceed in power His 
statement (given afterwards in ex- 
plaining the parable of the wheat 
and the cockle) of the universality 
of His religion : ' ' Now the sower 
is the Son of Man, and the field is 
the world." He also explains the 
hardness of heart, trampled like the 
wayside path by every worldly de- 
sire, hardly conscious of hearing the 
truth, soon to lose it altogether by 
the unclean birds, the evil spirits. 
The flippant worldling, superficial, 
giddy, receives the word with joy, 
as he does the latest fashion of dress 
or amusement — only to cast it away 
for some newer sensation. The man 
who is absorbed in gain, or in am- 
bition — "he heareth the word, and 
the care of this world and the de- 



"HEAR THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER." 

And again he began to teach by the sea- 
side, and a great multitude was gathered 
together unto him, so that he went up into 
a ship and sat in the sea; and all the mul- 
titude was upon the land by the sea-side. 
And he taught them many things in par- 
ables, and said unto them in his doctrine : 
Hear ye ! Behold, the sower went out to 
sow, and whilst he soweth, some fell by 
the wayside, and the birds of the air came 
and ate it up. And other some fell among 
stony ground, where it had not much earth, 
and it shot up immediately, because it had 
no depth of earth. And when the sun was 
risen it was scorched, and because it had no 
root it withered away. And some fell 
among thorns, and the thorns grew up and 
choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And 
some fell upon good ground, and brought 
forth fruit that grew up and increased and 
yielded, one thirty, another sixty, and an- 
other a hundred. And he said : He that 
hath ears to hear, let him hear. And he 
saith to them : Are you ignorant of this 
parable ? and how shall you know all par- 
ables ? Hear you therefore the parable of 
the sower. When any one heareth the 
word of the Kingdom, and understandeth 
it not, there cometh the wicked one, and 
catcheth away that which was sown in his 
heart ; this is he that receiveth the seed by 
the wayside. And he that receiveth the 
seed on stony ground, this is he that hear- 
eth the word, and immediately receiveth it 
with joy. Yet hath he not root in himself, 
but is only for a time, and when there 
ariseth tribulation and persecution because 
of the word, he is presently scandalized. 
And he that receiveth the seed among 
thorns, is he that heareth the word, and 
the care of this world, and the deceitfulness 
of riches, and the lusts after other things, 
[these] choke up the word, and he be- 
comech fruitless. But he that receiveth the 
seed upon good ground, this is he that hear- 
eth the word, and understandeth, and bear- 
eth fruit, and yieldeth, the one a hundred- 
fold, another sixty, and another thirty. 



3°6 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




THE SOWER. 



ceitfulness of riches choke up the word and 
he becometh fruitless." But the good ground, 
yielding manifold fruits of virtue and of joy, 
is the heart that hears the truth, reasons it out 
and understands it, and quickly puts its pre- 
cepts into practice. The man of good will and 
of good sense is the rich field of God's harvest. 
If men try to run over such a one with their 
worldly maxims, he stands his ground and 
guards his fences. If the evil one would sug- 
gest doubts, he falls back on holy faith and 
is loyal to his teacher ; if the foul humors of 
the flesh would smother the good seed with 
weeds and thorns of sensual vice and greed of money, 
he puts his heel upon his animal nature and gives 
his better self fair play. 

Meantime our Saviour says a word of comfort for 
those who are anxious about their co-operation with 
God's grace: God does His work in our hearts silent- 
ly. He is not only the sower, He is the fertility of 
the soil, and the warmth of the sunshine, and the 
moisture of the gentle rain. For us to be able to will 
and to do, is all His gift. Patience is to be our 
virtue, as well as sound reason and obedience. We 
need not go out and strive to measure the daily growth 
of the grain ; we cannot see the root, nor its mys- 
terious union with the soil — that is to say, we cannot 
know how these good thoughts grow into firm roots 
of virtuous conduct. God cares for that ; let us give 
Him our hearts, and we may then securely labor to 
help Him. " So is the Kingdom of God as if a man," 
said Jesus, " should cast seed into the earth, and 
should sleep and rise, night and day ; and the seed 
should .spring and grow up whilst he knoweth not. 
For the earth of itself bringeth forth fruit, first the 

















wM 




TEACHING BY PARABLES. 



307 



blade, then the ear, afterwards the full grain in the 
ear. And when the fruit is brought forth, immedi- 
ately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is 
come." Experience proves that no man works so 
quickly for God and so efficaciously as one whose 
main endeavor is to suppress self-will. And if 
some will make this doctrine an excuse for spiritual 
sloth, it none the less remains true ; it is at once the 
wheels and the brake of the chariot 
of the true Christian. Ending this 
parable of the Sower and the Seed, 
the Lord admonished His Apostles to 
spread the light which beamed from 
these bright lessons. 

"And He said to them: Doth a 
candle come in to be put under a 
bushel or under a bed? and not to 
be set on a candlestick ? For there 
nothing hid which shall not be made 
manifest, neither was it made secret, but 
that it may come abroad. If any man 
hath ears to hear, let him hear." He 
enforced this urgent appeal to their zeal 
by reminding them that all truth and 
virtue is common property in God's 
family ; it is bestowed only to be given 
forth again ; and this is a condition of 
its further possession by every recipient. 
" And He said to them: Take heed 
what you hear. In what measure you 
shall mete, it shall be measured to you 
again, and more shall be given to you. 
For he that hath, to him shall be given, 
and he that hath not, that also which he 
thinketh he hath, shall be taken from him. ' ' 




iiSf 



mr-" 



Trttjy. 






308 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

THE GRAIN OF MUSTARD-SEED. 
The action of God's truth upon the public life of 
humanity, the influence of the Church over nations, 
her gradual growth into the dominating institution 
of the world, the contrast between her feeble begin- 
nings and her final universal triumph — all this Jesus 
teaches in the prophetic parable of the mustard-seed. 
The maiden of Nazareth bore in her 
arms a little Infant whose shoulders 
grew into the prop of the whole 
world. A group of humble fisher- 
men scattered themselves over the 
proud empire of Rome and mastered 
it completely. Apply the lesson to 



IT BECOMETH A TREE. 

The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a 
grain of mustard-seed which a man took 
and sowed in his field. Which is the least 
indeed of all seeds : but when it is grown 
up, it is greater than all herbs, and be- 
cometh a tree, and shooteth out great 
branches, so that the birds of the air come 
and dwell in the shadow and under the 
branches thereof. 



personal conduct : a little word spoken lightly in con- 
versation b} r a Catholic friend sinks into a bigoted 
soul, and in a few years it has grown up into the 
true religion of Christ. 

THE LEAVEN. 

In another place our Saviour warns His disciples 
to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees," mean- 
ing their false doctrine. But if evil breeds evil, so does 
good breed good. If a good man is placed with non- 
Christians by the will of God — that is to say, by his 
state of life — by the inspirations of holy zeal, by 
providential circumstances of family, fellow-citizen- 
ship, social intercourse, or business connection, he 
becomes a powerful centre for good. He is to his sur- 
roundings what the Church is to the world. All this 
is taught by our Lord's parable : " The Kingdom of 
Heaven is like to leaven which a woman took and 
hid in three measures of meal until the whole was 
leavened." How surely were those words meant for 
us, and for these days of error and vice ; we Catholics 






TEA CHING BY PARA BLES. 309 

are the leaven of the great modern world. Our non- 
Catholic people, having many natural virtues, are 
like good flour, making sweet and wholesome bread 
if only leavened with the true religion. 



THK COCKI^K AND THK WHEAT. 

An interesting phase of the mystery of evil is the 
presence of the bad among the good in the Kingdom 
of Christ on earth. If the good Catholic be good 
leaven to the non- Catholic, a bad Catholic is poison 
to his non-Catholic neighbors. He associates the name 
of Catholic with drunkenness and with debauchery, 
the sacraments and the Holy Sacrifice with blas- 
pheming and adultery, the true faith with bribery and 
political corruption. For a while he can play the 
hypocrite and is a wolf in sheep's clothing. But 
he is often detected, and then he clothes the Bride 
of the Lamb in his wolf's skin. What shall be 
done with him ? Expel him from the Church ? Brand 
him as a spiritual outlaw ? Do that, and his innocent 
family suffers more than he does, his private vice be- 
comes matter for scandalous public 
discussion, and perhaps he is thrown 
into despair. Our Saviour's way is 
the best. Admonitions and reproofs 
have their uses and may frequently 
be applied with good results, but 
when all this is done the scandal 
must yet be borne and the remedy 
left to God. May we not merge our 
indignation against scandalous sin- 
ners into terror at God's final judg- 
ment upon them ? God can afford 
to wait — cannot we do so? But 
Jesus knew how sorely good souls 



WAIT TILL THE HARVEST. 

The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a 
man that sowed good seed in his field. 
But while men were asleep, his enemy- 
came and oversowed cockle among the 
wheat, and went his way. And when the 
blade was sprung up, and had brought forth 
fruit, then appeared also the cockle. And 
the servants of the good man of the house 
coming, said to him : Sir, didst thou not 
sow good seed in thy field ? Whence then 
hath it cockle ? And he said to them, An 
enemy hath done this. And the servants 
said to him, Wilt thou that we go and 
gather it up ? And he said, No, lest per- 
haps gathering up the cockle, you root up 
the wheat also together with it. Suffer 
both to grow until the harvest, and in the 
time of the harvest I will say to the reap^ 
ers, Gather up first the cockle and bind it 
into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather 
ye into my barn. 



3 io LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

are tried by the filthy sinners with whom they must 
live, and therefore He expounded this parable more ful- 
ly in private to His disciples, painting therein one of 
His vivid pictures 01 the end of the world. " Then 
having sent away the multitudes, He came into the 
house, and His disciples came to Him. saying : Ex- 
pound to us the parable of the cockle in the field. 
Who made answer and said to them : He that soweth 
the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the 
world ; and the good seed are the children of the king- 
dom, and the cockle are the children of the wicked 
one ; and the enemy that sowed them is the devil. 
But the harvest is the end of the world, and the reap- 
ers are the angels. Even as cockle, therefore, is gath- 
ered up and burnt with fire, so shall it be at the end 
of the world. The Son of Man shall send His angels, 
and they shall gather out of His kingdom, all scan- 
dals, and them that work iniquity, and shall cast them 
into the furnace of fire ; and there shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the just shine as 
the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that 
hath ears to hear, let him hear." 

THE HIDDEN TREASURE. 

The learned are not agreed on the relative order 
of these parables, but we know that their purpose 
was to enforce the great principles of the Sermon on 
the Mount. One of these is absolute surrender to 
God, full acknowledgment and entire acceptance of 
the supremacy of God in all things. Jesus illustrates 
this: " The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a treas- 
ure hidden in a field, which a man having found, hid 
it, and for joy thereof, goeth and selleth all that he 
hath and buyeth that field.'' True conversion to God 
is the joy of sudden riches — one hardly dares tell of 



TEA CHING B Y PARABLES. 31 1 

it lest it should prove a dream, so strange is the feel- 
ing of unlooked-for bliss. Then is the moment of 
heroic vocations, leaving all that was to gain all that 
is, selling this world and buying the next. Blessed 
be the book of the Gospels that teaches this science 
of political economy, and the books of the saints that 
expound it ; blessed the professor in the university, 
the priest in the pulpit, the true friend among the 
laity, the Christian journalist, the devout parent ; 
blessed are all who know and can teach this deep 
secret of sound money, these heavenly laws of trade 
which rule in the barter of passing pleasure for eter- 
nal joy. 

THE PEAEX OF GREAT PRICE. 

Not content with one parable on this topic, the 
Master enforces His doctrine of heavenly finance by a 
second one: "Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like 
to a merchant seeking good pearls ; who when he had 
found one pearl of great price, went his way and sold 
all that he had and bought it." If a man has intel- 
lect, learning, genius, station, health, riches, accord- 
ing to Jesus Christ he has what will set him up in 
business, for here is his means of a bold venture. 
Let him, however, understand that he is dealing with 
God and bargaining for eternal joy : 
no huckstering here. All for all is 
the maxim 

THE PARABLE OF THE NET. 

That God neither disdains to wait 
for sinners, nor, on the other hand, will 
allow them a final impunity, Jesus 
shows us in His parable of the net. 
Patiently, yes painfull}', does Holy 
Church draw her net through the sea seeking goodly pearls. 




ALL KINDS OF FISHES. 

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like 
a net cast into the sea, and gathering to- 
gether of all kinds of fishes, which when it 
was filled they drew out, and sitting by the 
shore, they chose out the good into vessels, 
but the bad they cast forth. So shall it be 
at the end of the world. 



312 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

of humanity, and though guarding it as best she 
may, she cannot help enclosing every kind of souls, 
even the unworthy who deceitful- 
ly enter in. So back and forth 
through the world goes the net of 
Jesus Christ, woven of the sacra- 
ments, the dogmatic teaching, the 
holy brotherhood of the Church, 
and only when drawn upon the 
shores of eternity shall the good and bad be sepa- 
rated ; but the separation shall then be irrevocable. 

When He had finished these parables, Jesus with 
loving familiarity addressed His audience : ' ' Have ye 
understood all these things? They say to Him, Yea. 
He said unto them, Therefore every scribe instructed 
in the Kingdom of Heaven, is like a man that is a 
householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure 
new things and old." One test of a Christian teacher's 
power is in revealing the ever-blooming freshness of 
His doctrine, which means the disclosing of some new 
beauty and new usefulness in the ancient doctrine, 
some adjustment to a new order of politics, or of social 
conditions, or of mental activity. 

New things and old is our Saviour's way, not 
old things and new. As God incessantly makes new 
the earth and the earthly life of man, so He ever 
newly develops His spiritual life. New dwellings are 
always being built on the old streets of the City of 
God. God changes men in their generations that He 
may display the inexhaustible resources of His Church. 
Adherence to forms and methods of religious influence 
which have succeeded in a bygone social state is 
often unwise, all the more so because its exponents 
are tempted to insist upon these worn-out clothes of 



TEA CHING BY PARA BLES. 3 1 3 

religion as the very substance of the ^true faith. It 
is not a new religion that men want, but a new cloth- 
ing of the only true religion, ever ancient and ever 
new. On the other hand, the innovator in doctrine or 
the minimizer of the fulness of truth, the censor of 
simple-minded orthodoxy, the teacher who would win 
an audience at the expense of some immemorial belief 
or practice of the people of God — who is tempted to 
win men at any expense — such a one has lost his touch 
with Jesus Christ. The over-conservative teacher con- 
fuses the clothes of religion with its life, and the over- 
opportune teacher sacrifices its life to present avail- 
ability. The true way is that of our Saviour: the 
wise teacher, says He, " bringeth forth out of his 
treasure new things and old." 

In all this series of parables the Evangelists show 
us how the Master taught the people, and what is 
His school of rhetoric for Christian teachers for all 
time. " All these things Jesus spoke in parables to 
the multitudes, and without parables He did not speak 
to them. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken 
by the Prophet, saying : / will open My mouth in 
parables ; I will utter things hidden from the founda- 
tion of the world. But apart, He explained all things 
to His disciples. And it came to pass when Jesus had 
finished these parables He passed from thence." 



3 I4 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE STILLING OF THE TEMPEST. — THE LEGION OF 
DEVILS AND THE HERD OF SWINE. 

Matt. viii. 1S-34, and ix. 1 ; Mark iv. 35-4.1, and 
v. i-2T ; Luke viii. 22-40. 




^"jLADLY did the L,ord rest from His busy hours 
of preaching and disputing. He entered one 
of the disciples' boats and was wafted gently 
over the waters of the lake, the western sky 
all golden with the setting sun. As the 
shades deepened and the stars began to glit- 
ter in the sky, the fatigue of the long and 
eventful day, the evening breeze and the cadence 
of the oars won Him into a deep and refreshing sleep. 
His disciples lovingly watched His slumbers, His head 
resting, perhaps, on one of their rough coats folded 
to make Him a pillow. The rippling of the waves 
and the murmured conversation of these well-loved 
children were the last sounds He heard : they were 
doubtless talking of His power and of His love, and 
of their happy privilege to be His disciples. 

But after a time the sky to the east and north 
became overcast and an ominous stillness fell ; then a 
few puffs of wind came from the highlands towards 
L,ibanus and Hermon, the messengers of the advanc- 
ing storm. Iyake Genesareth, especially the upper 
part of it, is subject to sudden storms, and the dis- 
ciples, whose avocation taught them to know the 
weather, were soon aware of their danger. Down 
swept the fierce gale, forcing them out of their course, 
lifting the waves high into the air, and threatening 
their destruction; and still the Master slept on. But 
when the waves dashed into the little vessel and 



THE STILLING OF THE TEMPEST. 



315 



"PEACE, BE STILL!" 

And Jesus seeing great multitudes about 
him, when evening was come, gave orders 
to pass over the water. . . . And send- 
ing away the multitude, they take him, 
even as he was, in the ship, and there were 
other ships with him. And there arose a 
great storm of wind, and the waves beat 
into the ship, so that the ship was filled. 
And he was in the hinder part of the ship 
sleeping upon a pillow, and they awake 
him and say to him: Master, doth it not 
concern thee that we perish ? And rising 
up he rebuked the wind, and said to. the 
sea : Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, 
and there was made a great calm. And he 
said to them : Why are you fearful ? Have 
you not faith yet ? And they feared ex- 
ceedingly, and they said one to another : 
Who is this (thinkest thou), that both 
wind and sea obey him ? 



threatened to sink it, they "awake 
Him and say to Him : Doth it not 
concern Thee that we perish ? ' ' 
Jesus arose without any sign of dis- 
turbance, and looking calmly into 
the storm, " rebuked the wind, and 
said, Peace, be still ! And the wind 
ceased and there was made a great 
calm. ' ' He tamed the wild elements 
as men of a peculiar gift can tame a 
wild horse, by a look, a motion of 
the hand. But Jesus did not fail 
to notice that His followers had 
given way to something like dis- 
trust. This pained Him ; and so He said to them, 
"Why are you fearful? Have you not faith yet?" 
In like danger, Caesar's proud trust in his destiny 
had dictated the famous admonition to his boat- 
man, " Fear not, thou bearest Caesar and his for- 
tunes ; " — fortunes afterwards all wrecked in one 
stormy moment in the Roman capitol, with their 
ignoble fruits of tyranny, bloodshed, and slavery. The 
barque of Peter yet bears Christ and His for- 
tunes in safety, and will do so till the shores 
of eternity are reached. Storms assail it, 
storms of dark vices, heathen persecutions, 
barbarous invasions, kingly oppression, wild 
popular outbreaks overwhelm the bark 
of Peter and threaten the Church's de- 
jstruction, casting timid souls into despair, 
I for Jesus seems asleep. But those whose 
faith is true never despair; they never 
I cease to pray to Him with loving trustful- 
ness. God arises in His might and the 
! storm is stilled. Furthermore, the relig- 




And the waves beat into 
the ship." 



3i6 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



ious atmosphere is purified by the convulsion of the 
elements. Dreadful calamities are turned into real 
favors. Deep-rooted abuses are torn out and de- 
stroyed, and the peace of Heaven reigns amid a peo- 
ple chastened and renovated in spirit. 

Jesus and His disciples landed at Gergesa, a point 
of land jutting into the sea on the 
eastern shore of the lake. The 
ruins of a town and of some ancient 
monuments are yet to be seen there, 
and also the steep bluff made famous 
by the miracle of the herd of swine. 
As the land was reached a pitiable 
sight met the eye — a naked man 
wandering about, afflicted with the 
worst form of diabolical possession ; 
" no man could bind him, not even 
with chains." He was howling 
miserably, and cutting himself with 
stones. His usual abode was among 
some tombs in the caves by the 
water-side. What caused the poor 
wretch to run from afar off and ! 
throw himself at Jesus' feet ? The 
demoniac may have retained, or per- 
haps been specially granted, a mo- 
mentary use of personal will, a glim- 
mer of hope. As he fell prostrate 
at His feet, Jesus commanded : "Go 
out of the man, thou unclean spirit." 
But the evil power within him forced him to cry 
out with a loud voice: "What have I to do with 
Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of the Most High God? I 
adjure Thee by God that Thou torment me not." 
The demon felt in presence of his Master, but did he 



"MY NAME IS LEGION." 

And they came over the strait of the sea 
into the country of the Gerasenes, which is 
over against Galilee. And as he went out 
of the ship, immediately there met him out 
of the monuments a man [St. Matthew 
says two men] with an unclean spirit, 
who had his dwelling in the tombs, and 
he wore no clothes, and no man now could 
bind him not even with chains. For hav- 
ing been bound with fetters and chains, 
he had burst the chains and broken the 
fetters in pieces, and no one could tame 
him. And he was always day and night in 
the monuments and in the mountains, cry- 
ing and cutting himself with stones. And 
seeing Jesus afar off, he ran and adored 
him. And crying out with a loud voice he 
said : What have I to do with thee, Jesus, 
the Son of the Most High God ? I adjure 
thee by God, that thou torment me not. 
For he said unto him : Go out of the man, 
thou unclean spirit. And he asked him : 
What is thy name ? And he saith to 
him : My name is Legion, for we are many. 
And he besought him much, that he would 
not drive him away out of the country. 
And there was there near the mountain a 
great herd of swine, feeding. And the 
spirits besought him, saying : If thou cast 
us out hence, send us into the swine, that 
we may enter into them. And Jesus im- 
mediately gave them leave. And he said 
to them : Go. And the unclean spirits 
going out, entered into the swine, and the 
herd with great violence was carried head- 
long into the sea, being about two thous- 
and, and were stifled in the sea. 



THE DEVILS AND THE HERD OF SWINE. 317 

know Him precisely as God ? It is not probable. 
Hence the policy of the evil one to tarry and to pro- 
crastinate. That the disciples might learn a lesson, 
Jesus asked the demon : 4 ' What is thy name ? And 
hesaith to Him : My name is L,egion, for we are many." 
Hoping to bring upon the Master the hatred of the 
people, the spirits besought Him, if He cast them out, 
to send them into a herd of swine, feeding near by. 
And Jesus gave the devils their wish. He would 
draw good out of evil — expel the demon from his 
victim and punish the Jews who owned the swine 
and ate their flesh against the law of Moses. He 
would also give to Satan the shame of the company 
of those brutes whose disgusting foulness makes them 
the symbol of unbridled appetite among men. In an 
instant the two thousand swine were struck with un- 
controllable panic, rushed in a frantic mass up the 
mountain, as suddenly wheeled about and with roars 
of pain rushed down again, and the whole herd "with 
great violence were carried headlong into the sea ' ' and 
were drowned. It is an emblem of the career of the 
sensualist, the victim of his own wild passions, hateful in 
animal deformity and finally driven to despair and death. 
The swineherds running across the fields carried 
the news of their terrible loss to the adjacent town 
and country, and thus our Saviour's name and power 
were given publicity. " And they that fed them fled, 
and told it in the city and in the fields. And they f^ 
went out to see what was done. And they came to 
Jesus, and found the man out of whom the devils 
were departed sitting at His feet, clothed and in his 
right mind ; and they were afraid. And they that 
had seen it, told them in what manner he had been 
dealt with who had the devil, how he had been 
healed from the legion, and concerning the swine." 




3i8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



But the people were semi-pagan. " And they be- 
gan to pray Him that He would depart from their 
coasts." The Saviour's miracle was not lost upon 
them, but it was too costly a lesson to be learned 
upon a sudden. They were amazed to see the 
demoniac clothed no less in decent garments than in 
fully restored sanity, calm, grateful, and anxious to 
follow and serve the Master. But of Jesus they were 
in great fear, and humbly begged Him to leave them 
— a feeble and futile testimony to His greatness. 
When, however, the restored man asked leave to fol- 
low Jesus, the Master decided that he had better re- 
main as a witness and a teacher : ' ' Go into thy house, 
to thy friends, and tell them how great things the 
Lord hath done for thee, and hath had mercy on thee. 
And he went his way, and began to publish in De- 
capolis how great things Jesus had done for him, and 
all men wondered." He remained a living proof of 
the Messias and a living voice ; for Jesus was minded 
to return again to the Gerasenes and deepen the lesson 
of this flitting appearance upon their coast ; His gratev 
ful beneficiary was meantime His ardent advocate. 

All this time a vast number of people were await- 
ing our Saviour's return to the other side of the lake : 
1 ' And when Jesus had passed again in the ship over 
the strait, a great multitude assembled together unto 
Him, for they were all waiting for Him." 




IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



319 



THE 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
MARTYRDOM. 



-HIS 



Matt. xiv. 1-13 ; Mark vi. 1 4.-29, and i. 14 ; 
Luke ix. 7-9. 

WE have seen that the ambitious leaders of the 
Jews had at first hoped much from John the Baptist, 
but were soon disappointed in him, 
for he w*Ss no tool for intriguing 
politicians. And after he had pro- 
claimed the Nazarene Carpenter as 
the Messias they gave him up — they 
suspected his orthodoxy. From 
suspicion to hatred the step is a 
short one, and an occasion soon of- 
fered which showed they had taken it. 

Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Perea 
and Galilee, had married a daughter 
of Aretas, king of Arabia ; but after 
a time he put her away and took 
Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. 
The scandal was enormous. The 
whole people were shocked, Aretas 
declared war, and John the Baptist, 
who usually preached beyond the 
Jordan and therefore in Herod's 
dominions, boldly entered the palace 
of the incestuous ruler and amid his 
unclean revelries thundered forth : 
"It is not lawful for thee to take 
thy brother's wife." St. Mark tells us what had hap- 
pened after this : 4 ' Herod himself had sent and appre- 
hended John and bound him in prison [in the fortress 



"GIVE ME THE HEAD OF JOHN THE 
BAPTIST." 

Now Herodias laid snares for him and 
was desirous to put him to death, and 
could not ; for Herod feared John, know- 
ing him to be a just and holy man ; and 
kept him, and when he heard him, did many 
things ; and he heard him willingly. And 
when a convenient day was come, Herod 
made a supper for his birthday, for the 
princes and tribunes, and chief men of 
Galilee. And when the daughter of the 
same Herodias had come in and had 
danced, and pleased Herod and them that 
were at table with him, the king said to the 
damsel : Ask of me what thou wilt and I 
will give it thee. And he swore to her : 
Whatsoever thou shalt ask, 1 will give 
thee, though it be the half of my kingdom. 
Who when she was gone out, said to her 
mother : What shall 1 ask ? But she said : 
The head of John the Baptist. And when 
she was come in immediately in haste to the 
king, she asked saying: I will that forth- 
with thou give me in a dish the head of 
John the Baptist. And the king was 
struck sad ; yet because of his oath, and 
because of them that were with him at 
table, he would not displease her. But 
sending an executioner he commanded that 
his head should be brought in a dish. And 
he beheaded him in prison and brought 
his head in a dish, and gave it to the 
damsel, and the damsel gave it to her 
mother. Which his disciples hearing came 
and took his body and laid it in a tomb. 




The daughter of Herodias 
came in and danced." 



320 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

of Macherus], for the sake of Herodias, the wife of 
Philip his brother, because he had married her." 

But it was the guilty woman who was most enraged 
and who had brought about John's arrest. The 
saint of the desert had suddenly thrust himself be- 
tween her and the fruits of her lust and her ambition ; 
she set to work to have him murdered. She caused 
exaggerated reports of the general indignation at their 
incest and at John's imprisonment to be brought to 
Herod, pretending to fear a popular uprising. It is 
possible that some at least of the Pharisees aided her 
in this, for if they had been willing to harbor the Bap- 
tist in Judea, he could have escaped the tyrant, who 
had no jurisdiction east of the Jordan. This is fur- 
ther evident from our Saviour's retreat from Jeru- 
salem into Galilee, as we have seen, upon learning of 
John's imprisonment, for this supposes His 
knowledge of Herod's partisans being power- 
ful enough even in Jerusalem to do Him serious 
injury. 

But if Herodias thirsted for John's blood, 
her accomplice did not. Low as he had fallen, 
he yet admired the fearless preacher of penance, 
and loved to hear that glorious voice, even 
though he trembled at its sound. And he 
feared to go to extremes against the people's 
favorite, at least immediately. A leader of the 
people is always dreaded no less than hated by 
tyrants, for in times of public commotion the 
most stable throne has been overturned by the 
appeal of a popular orator. Therefore it was 
not with the intention of murdering John, but 
to keep him away from the multitude, that 
Herod seized him and shut him up in prison. 
His disciples were allowed access to him, 



JOHN'S MARTYRDOM. 321 

Herod heard him willingly, at least on matters of 
ordinary religious interest, even sometimes advised 
with him as a sort of counsellor. ' ' Knowing him 
to be a just and holy man ; and kept him, and when 
he heard him did many things ; and he heard him 
willingly." In all this there was a faint shadow of 
hope for the repentance of the sensualist. Unfortu- 
nately a wicked woman was between John and the 
tyrant. She had seduced the one and she hated 
the other. She made a murderer of the one and a 
martyr of the other. She waited impatiently for the 
moment when the overpowering sensuality of Herod 
could be played against his reverence for the prophet : 
'■ And when a convenient day was come, Herod made 
a supper for his birthday. And when the daughter 
of the same Herodias had come and had danced, and 
pleased Herod, the king swore to her, Whatsoever 
thou shalt ask I will give thee, though it be the 
half of my kingdom." 

Like mother like daughter. What a spectacle ! The 
foul tyrant, gorged with wine, aflame with lust ; the 
companion of his guilt, equally sensual but for the mo- 
ment dominated by hatred of the man of God who had 
reproved her paramour for his criminal love of her ; 
the giddy girl, with her licentious dance adding fire 
to the lust of the man who had done so deadly a 
crime against her own father, and affording the coveted 
opportunity for her mother's thirst for the Baptist's 
blood. Quickly the two women withdrew and conferred 
together. The younger hastened back and said to the 
king, "I will that forthwith thou give me in a dish 
the head of John the Baptist. And the king was 
struck sad " : that is to say, drunkenly sad, cowardly 
sad, adulterously sad, not penitently sad. Super- 
stitious fidelity to a bad oath, human respect for 



322 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



the gibes of his convivial companions, struck 
back his feebly rising sense of shame. <( And 
the king was struck sad ; yet because of his 
oath, and because of them that were with him 
at table, he would not displease her. But 
sending an executioner he commanded that 
[John's] head should be brought in a dish. 
And [the executioner] beheaded him in 
prison and brought his head in a 
dish, and gave it to the damsel, and 
the damsel gave it to her mother." 
The words of St. Ambrose are 
chosen by Holy Church to fitly 
characterize this crime : ' ' The re- 
ward of the dancer is the death of the 
Prophet. And finally (what 
even savages are accustomed to 
abhor) amid feasting and drink- 
ing the command is given to 
carry out the cruel compact — 
from feast to prison and back again from prison to feast 
moves this manifold crime. Who would not have 
thought as he saw the messenger hurrying from the 
king's banquet to John's prison that it was to set him 
free ? — a boon asked by a favorite young girl out of pity 
for the Prophet, and gladly granted by the king to honor 
his birthday. But oh what cruelty was mingled with 
their joys! What voluptuous pleasures were associat- 
ed with the martyr's pains ! Cast thine eyes, 
O cruel king, upon this sight, worthy dish to set be- 
fore thy unclean appetite. Reach out thy hand — let 
no savage joy be lacking — and dabble thy fingers 
in this sacred blood. And as the meat and drink 
upon thy table has not sated thy hunger and thirst, 
drink this blood yet flowing warm from the head thy 




" The executioner beheaded him in prison." 



JOHN'S MARTYRDOM. 



323 



lust has just severed from the body. L,ook into those 
eyes whose glassy stare even in death reproves thy 
incest, and which slowly close upon thee rather from 
horror of thy vice than from the weight of death. 
Those lips whose golden words of warning thou didst 
not heed are silent, but they will yet torment thy 
memory." 

While all this was happening Jesus was preach- 
ing in Galilee. The dreadful tidings reached Him 
just as the Apostles returned from their preaching in 
the country places — "the Apostles coming together 
unto Jesus related all things that they had done 
and taught." The disciples of John, having man- 
aged to get possession of the body ' ' and laid it in 
a tomb," came and told Jesus — their awful news 
breaking in on the happy reunion of the Master and 
His Apostles. Furthermore, it was learned that Herod 
was thinking of seizing Jesus. This was but natural. 
John and Jesus were servant and master, and the re- 
morse of Herod for the murder of the one would 
alternate with his alarm about the purposes of the 
other : his crime was always being repeated by a 
ghost-play in his troubled conscience, troubled and 
superstitious also. "At that time Herod the Te- 
| trarch heard the name of Jesus (for His name was 
'made manifest), and he said: John the Baptist is 
I risen again from the dead, and therefore mighty 
I works show forth themselves in him. And others 
I said : It is BHas. But others said : It is a prophet, 
1 as one of the prophets. Which Herod hearing said : „, 

, • TOMB OF JOHN THE 

! John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I baptist. 

ihear such things? And he sought to see Him." 




324 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST; 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

JESUS MULTIPLIES THE LOAVES AND PISHES. — HE 
WALKS UPON THE WATER. 

Matt. xiv. 13-36 ; Mark vi. 30-56 ; Luke ix. 10-iy ; 
John vi. 1-27. 

The death of John was a great shock to the sensi- 
tive nature of our Saviour. His soul craved a brief 
time of solitude and prayer, of mourning for his be- 
loved Precursor. ' ' Which when Jesus had heard 
He retired from thence by a boat, into a desert place 
apart." He said to His disciples : " Come into a 
desert place and rest a little." It was impossible to 
avoid the throng where they were : ' ' For there were 
many coming and going, and they had not so much 
as time to eat. And going up into a ship Jesus went 
over the Sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias." 

The Apostles, also, would enjoy a season of rest. 
They had labored hard as missionaries, they were 
anxious to speak fully with Jesus about their experi- 
ence, and they too mourned John very bitterly. 
Many if not all of them had been baptized by him, 
and had been promoted from his discipleship to that 
of Jesus. "And taking them, He went aside into a 
desert place apart, which belonged to Bethsaida." 
This is a little solitude just east of where the Jordan 
enters the lake, a point formed by the river, the lake, 
and a range of rocky hills which joins them together. 
The soil was barren and uncultivated, covered with a 
growth of wild grasses. Hither the Master directed 
His disciples to sail their boat. 

But privacy was no longer an easy luxury for 
Jesus. <( A great multitude followed Him, because 
they saw the miracles which He did on them that 



MIRACLE OF THE LOA VES AND FISHES. 325 

were diseased." In spite of every precaution, the 
people " saw them going away," says St. Mark, "and 
many knew [the point they were heading for], and 
they ran nocking thither on foot from all the cities, 
and were there before them." It would seem that 
He had delayed the passage across the lake, and had 
obtained some rest in the boat ; otherwise the crowd 
could hardly have had time to make the circuit of 
the northern shore and be beforehand with Him. 
"Jesus therefore went up into a mountain, and there 
He sat with His disciples." Many pilgrims journey- 
ing towards Jerusalem for the Passover had joined the 
multitude ordinarily waiting upon our Saviour, for 
"the Pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was at 
hand." 

But Jesus did not stay long resting ; He loved the 
people too well for that. No landscape of ravishing 
beauty ever charmed the soul of an artist, no group 
of loving wife and little ones ever enraptured a father's 
heart, no review of vast armies ever dilated a con- 
queror's soul, as the sight of many men and women 
inflamed the soul of Jesus Christ. He knew, indeed, 
that the motives of the multitude were not the highest. 
They wanted miracles, they sought a political Mes- 
sias and an earthly kingdom ; they were goaded on 
by the horrid murder of the Baptist. But He loved 
them well in spite of their faults. "He received 
them and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God, and 
healed them that had need of healing." He explained 
His true office — He was a king to preach and to heal. 
The time passed quickly away till late in the after- 
noon. 

Our Saviour was mindful of the bodily needs of 
His auditors, and He contemplated a double joy for 
them : a great miracle for their souls and a full meal 



326 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



THE MIRACLE 



OF THE 

FISHES. 



LOAVES AND 



for their bodies. But He would try the faith of His 
Apostles first. " When Jesus therefore had lifted up 
His eyes, and seen that a very great multitude eometh 
to Him, He said to Philip : Whence shall we buy 
bread that these may eat ? And this He said to try 
him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip 
answered : Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not 
sufficient for them, that every one 
may take a little." Thus the mat- 
ter rested for some time, until 
"when the day was now far spent, 
His disciples came to Him, saying : 
This is a desert place, and the hour 
is now past ; send them away, that 
going into the next villages and 
towns they may buy themselves 
bread. And He answering, said to 
them : They have no need to go ; 
give you them to eat. And they 
said to Him : L,et us go and buy 
bread for two hundred pence, and 
we will give them to eat." The dis- 
ciples seemed to think all this a 
pleasantry on our Saviour's part, 
and it was in that spirit that they 
ironically asked: "Let us go and 
buy bread for two hundred pence and we will give 
them to eat." They doubtless named the total sum 
in their little treasury. "And Jesus saith to them, 
How many loaves have you ? go and see. And 
when they knew [how few there were], one of His 
disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, saith 
to Him, There is a boy here that hath five barley 
loaves and two fishes." Does this answer show an 
anticipation on Andrew's part of the coming miracle? 



And he saith to them : How many loaves 
have you ? go and see. And when they 
knew, one of his disciples, Andrew, the 
brother of Simon Peter, saith to him : 
There is a boy here that hath five barley 
loaves and two fishes, but what are these 
among so many ? He said to them : 
Bring- them hither to me. And he com- 
manded them that they should make them 
all sit down by companies upon the green 
grass. And they sat down in ranks, by 
hundreds and by fifties. And when he had 
taken the five loaves and the two fishes, 
looking up to heaven he blessed and broke 
the loaves, and gave to his disciples to set 
before them ; and the two fishes he divided 
among them all. And they all did eat and 
were filled. And when they were filled, he 
said to his disciples : Gather up the frag- 
ments that remain, lest they be lost. They 
gathered up therefore, and filled twelve 
baskets with the fragments of the five 
barley loaves and of the fishes, which re- 
mained over and above to them that Mad 
eaten. And the number of them that did 
eat was five thousand men, besides women 
and children. 



MIRACLE OF THE LOA VES AND FISHES. 



327 



He continued : " But what are these among so many ? 
He said to them: Bring them hither to me." 

The reader knows that the stupendous miracle 
about to be performed tallied with the time when 
" the Passover, the festival-day of the Jews, was near 
at hand." The coincidence was notable to the mind 
of Jesus, for after His miracle He was going to pro- 
claim for the first time the religious banquet which 
was in the New Law to take the place of the Paschal 
Lamb in the Old, and He made this feast a solemn 
religious occasion. "He commanded them that they ' 
should make them all sit down by companies uponf 
the green grass. And they sat down in ranks by 
hundreds and by fifties." It was the marshalling of 
His hosts as if for battle. But little did those ardent- 
ly patriotic Israelites appreciate that the only military 
array proper to the new kingdom would be the 
ordering of fifties and hundreds and thousands and 
millions of peaceful souls about the banquet-table of 
the Prince of Peace. 

Jesus then worked His miracle. In His soul's labo- 
ratory was stored the spell which by slow processes 
turns earth and air and water into human food : He 
now doubles its power upon itself and concentrates 
its work of seasons into the space of a few words 
of heavenly blessing : ' ' And when He had taken the 
five loaves and the two fishes, looking up to Heaven 
He blessed and broke the loaves, and gave to His 
disciples to set before them ; and the two fishes He 
divided among them all. And they all did eat and 
were filled." The remains of such a feast were relics, 
and were fit tokens to teach the lesson of humble 
Christian thrift: the worth of the gifts of God is 
not in themselves but in the loving kindness of the 
Oiver. " And immediately He obliged His disciples 




"He blessed and 
broke the loaves." 



3^8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



to go up into the ship that they might go before Him 
over the water to Bethsaida, whilst He dismissed 
the people. Now those men, when they had seen what 
a miracle Jesus had done, said : This is of a truth the 
prophet that is to come into the world. Jesus there- 
fore, when He knew that they would come to take 
Him by force and make Him king, fled again into the 
mountain Himself alone." He dismissed the people. 
But they were too deeply preoccupied with racial as- 
pirations to be cheated so easily of their design to 
place Him at the head of a national uprising, even 
though He strove to elude them by sending His 
Apostles away in their boat without Him, hidden by 
the gathering darkness. Their leaders counselled to- 
gether, they determined ' ' to take Him by force and 
to make Him king." They would march in triumph 
to Jerusalem, raising the whole country by the way. 
He avoided them. When they sought Him He was 
gone — He had "fled again into the mountain Him- 
self alone." The} 7 were right in thinking that one 
who could feed an army by asking a blessing on a 
basket of bread, could also arm it and lead it to 
" And gave to His victory. But they made a mistake which has not 
disciples to set be- seldom been imitated by Christians in succeeding 
ages. For although the power of Christ's kingdom 
conduces to national liberty and glory, its distinct and 
peculiar office is not national glory but the saving 
of men's souls one by one, and always by means the 
very opposite of warlike ones, namely, peaceful per- 
suasion, patient suffering and love. 

It is possible that our Saviour was moved to send 
away His Apostles lest they should become tainted by 
the secularism of the multitude. What a temptation ! 
— the thought of being made generals over the cohorts 
that could instantly have been formed from the five 




fore them." 



JESUS WALKS UPON THE WATER. 



329 



thousand hardy Galileans. It was nightfall when they 
went aboard their vessel, and as the wind was con- 
trary, they made what headway they could by rowing, 
directing their course towards the " land of Genesa- 
reth," the western shore just south of Capharnaum. 
Presently the wind changed and quickly increased to 
a gale ; soon a violent tempest was upon them. Their 
situation was extremely perilous, for it was impossible 
to land in safety upon the western shore with the storm 
beating upon it, and it was equally impossible to keep 
their little ship away from it. Meantime their Master 
was either among the hills engaged in prayer, or, 
as seems possible, had been making His way on foot 
around the head of the lake. But on the coming of 
the storm His love for His Apostles drew His thoughts 
to their tossing bark — and in a moment He was 
near them. "They saw Jesus walking upon the sea 
and drawing nigh to the ship, and they were afraid." 
His dim outline floated before them like a phantom 
above the raging waters, every flash of lightning re- 
vealing Him far or near, seeming to beckon them 
onward: "They all saw Him and were troubled." 
Jesus had passed from the solid earth and was walk- 
ing like God " upon the waves of the sea " (Job ix. 8). 
Presently His voice, cleaving the roar of the 
wind and the dashing of the water, came weird- 
ly upon them : " Have a good heart ; it is I, 
fear ye not." " Lord," shouted Peter, " if it 
be Thou, bid me come to Thee upon the waters. 
And Jesus said : Come. And Peter going 
down out of the boat walked upon the water 
to come to Jesus." But alas ! Peter's trustful- 
ness was not perfect ; there was a mixture of 
bravado in his motives — a fault that shall yet 
cause him a deadlier shipwreck than what now "O thou of little faith.' 




33o 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



befell him. " But seeing the wind strong he was afraid, 
and when he began to sink he cried out, saying : L,ord, 
save rne ! And immediately Jesus stretching forth His 
hand, took hold of him, and said to him : O thou 
of little faith, why didst thou doubt?" When faith 
wavers miracles cease. When all is lost Jesus is not 
lost. When faith or hope or love has been wanting, 
our own weakness should at least teach us the lesson of 
the strength of Jesus' arm. When the Master reached 
the boat with Peter, and when the storm suddenly ceas- 
ed, they all fell down and adored 
Him, " saying, Indeed Thou art the 
Son of God. And presently they 
were at the land to which they were 
going. And when they had passed 
over, they came into the land of 
Genesareth and set to the shore." 
They reached land in the early hours 
of the morning. What followed is 
thus narrated by St. Mark: "And 
when they were gone out of the ship, 
immediately they [that is, the people 
of the neighborhood] knew Him. 
And running through that whole 
country they began to carry about 
in beds those that were sick where 
they heard Jesus was. And whither- 
soever He entered, into towns or 
into villages or cities, they laid the 
sick in the streets and besought 
Him that they might touch but 
the hem of His garment, and as 
many as touched Him were made 
whole." 



JESUS WALKING UPON THE SEA. 

And when evening was come his dis- 
ciples went down to the sea. And when 
they had gone up into a ship, they went 
over the sea to Capharnaum, and it was 
now dark, and Jesus was not come unto 
them. And the sea rose by reason of a 
great wind that blew. When they had. 
rowed therefore about 6ve-and-twenty or 
thirty furlongs, they saw Jesus walking 
upon the sea and drawing nigh ro the 
ship, and they were afraid ; and he would 
have passed by them. But they seeing 
him walking upon the sea, thought it was 
an apparition, and they cried out ; for they 
all saw him, and were troubled. And im- 
mediately he spoke with them and said to 
them : Have a good heart : it is I, fear ye 
not. And Peter making answer said : Lord, 
if it be thou, bid me come to thee upon the 
waters. And he said : Come. And Peter, 
going down out of the boat, walked upon 
the water to come to Jesus. But seeing 
the wind strong, he was afraid, and when 
he began to sink he cried out, saying : 
Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus, 
stretching forth his hand, took hold of him 
and said to him : O thou of little faith, 
why didst thou doubt ? And when they 
were come up into the boat the wind 
ceased ; and they were far more astonished 
within themselves. For they understood 
not concerning the loaves, for their heart 
was blinded. And they that were in the 
boat came and adored him, saying : In- 
deed thou art the Son of God. And pres- 
ently the ship was at the land to which 
they were going. 



THE BREAD OF LIFE, 331 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

THE BREAD OF LIFE. 

John vi. 22-60. 

"The next day the multitude, that stood on the 
other side of the sea, saw that there was no other 
ship there but one, and that Jesus had not entered 
into the ship with His disciples, but that His dis- 
ciples were gone away alone ; but other ships came 
in from Tiberias, nigh unto the place where they had 
eaten the bread, the Lord giving thanks. When 
therefore the multitude saw that Jesus was not there 
nor His disciples, they took shipping and came to 
Capharnaum seeking for Jesus." Whether by boats 
from across the lake, or by messengers or travellers 
along the shore, the half-political and half-religious 
assemblage left by Jesus at the north-east corner of 
the lake soon learned that He was at or near Caphar- 
naum. They heard of His preaching in that neigh- 
borhood and of many miracles of healing. De- 
termined from various motives to see Him again, 
and annoyed at His avoiding them, they — at least 
the leaders — came over to Him in boats. " They said 
to Him, Rabbi, when earnest Thou hither ? Jesus 
answered them and said, Amen, Amen, I say to you, 
you seek Me, not because you have seen miracles, but 
because you did eat of the loaves and were filled. 
Labor not for the meat that perisheth, but for that 
which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son 
of Man will give you. For Him hath God the Father 
sealed." They had mistaken Jesus and His mission. 
They thought Him a wonder-worker who would feed 
His followers for purposes of worldly ambition, while 
He was only a teacher who wished to instruct them 



332 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

in the way of eternal happiness. The horrible busi- 
ness of going to war and slaying men in order to 
found a political empire was not the mission of Jesus; 
He had been sent to establish a brotherhood as peace- 
ful as it was glorious, and which was to be the 
spiritual city of the children of God. 

Their perplexity broke out in questions, which were 
all good opportunities for His teaching : " What shall 
we do that we may work the works of God ? Jesus 
answered and said to them, This is the work of God, 
that you believe in Him whom He hath sent." Not 
warlike ardor, but zealous love of truth was God's 
will with men ; not that men should conquer each 
other, but that they should quickly believe in God's 
messenger. Faith is the demand of God — faith in 
His Son, the most necessary of all virtues, the high- 
est act of enlightened reason. It was this intelligent 
but humble submission to truth and its divine ex- 
ponent that God wanted from the Jews — nor has He 
ever asked anything else from any one as the root and 
foundation of all virtue and wisdom. But they were 
continually looking to miracles, especially as a means 
of re-establishing the supremacy of Israel. 

It is little wonder that they misunderstood Him. 
They were ever thinking of and talking about Israel's 
kingdom as a living thing in God's designs, to be 
planned about and fought for : Jesus knew it to be 
dead. The exchange of words which followed shows 
that they surmised that Jesus, if He only would, could 
renew the daily wonders of the exodus from Egypt, 
and lead them in triumphant wars against the idola- 
trous Gentiles. ''They said therefore to Him, What 
sign therefore doest Thou ? that we may see and may 
believe Thee : what dost thou work ? Our fathers 
did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, He gave 



THE BREAD OF LIFE. 333 

them bread from Heaven to eat." Upon which our 
Saviour immediately entered upon one of the most 
momentous discourses of His life. In it He teaches, 
first, that He is the bread of the soul, the food of 
the human mind, the fulness of a great divine doc- 
trine : and thus is God and man made one in spirit. 
He goes on to teach, secondly, that He is the bread of 
both soul and body ; that He is the food of the entire 
man ; that, by some mysterious process, now plainly 
outlined, He will make His spiritual union a bodily 
one as well, uniting us not merely by our convic- 
tions and affections to His soul and divinity, but also 
making each of us one body with His body, filling 
our bodies with His flesh, and our veins with His 
blood, in order that He may the better fill our minds 
with His thoughts and with His love : — in a word, 
the Eucharist. 

And first He is the bread of faith : Amen, Amen, I 
say to you, Moses gave you not bread from Heaven, 
but My Father giveth you the true bread from Heaven. 
For the bread of God is that which cometh down 
from Heaven and giveth life to the world. They 
said therefore unto Him : Lord give us always this 
bread. And Jesus said to them : I am the bread of 
life, he that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he 
that believeth in Me shall never thirst." Who but 
God Himself could say, / am the bread of life f But 
besides this, Jesus is the spokesman of God, and yet 
has not been hearkened to: "But I said unto you, 
that you also have seen Me and you believe not. 
All that the Father giveth to Me shall come to Me, 
and him that cometh to Me I will not cast out. 
Because I came down from Heaven not to do My 
own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." Upon 
which our Saviour passes into the Doctrine of 



334 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



Ivife, life's principle, life's restoration, life related to 
death : and herein He teaches that His doctrine gives 
the soul a supernatural life so abundant as to over- 
flow upon and restore even the dying body: "Now 
this is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of 
all He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but 
should raise it up again in the last day. And this 
is the will of My Father that sent Me, that every 
one who seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, may 
have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in the 
last day." 

L,et any one deny, if he can, that Jesus has brought 
a new spiritual life among men. For nineteen cen- 
turies the inspiration of humanity in its literature, its 
art, its social conditions, especially in its morality 
and its religion, has been Jesus Christ. What is 
best and most beautiful in this world comes from 
union with Jesus Christ by entire belief in His 
teaching. But many of the Jews did not feel 
the want of a life of faith ; they thought that 
■ Ui the revelation of God through Moses and 
the prophets was enough. Therefore, 
they had no use for Jesus as a teacher, 
however much they desired Him as 
a national leader : ' ' The Jews there- 
fore murmured at Him because He 
had said, I am the living bread, 
which came down from Heaven. 
And they said : Is not this Jesus, 
the Son of Joseph, whose father 
and mother we know ? How then 
saith He, I am come down from 
Heaven ? ' ' Upon which our Sav- 
iour reiterates the statement of His 
" And him that cometh to Me I will not cast out." relation to His Father : ' ' Murmur 




THE BREAD OF LIFE. 



335 




not among yourselves. No man can come 
to Me, except the Father who hath sent 
Me, draw him, and I will raise him up at 
the last day. It is written in the pro- 
phets : And they shall all be taught of 
God." He does not advert to their objection 
about His human parentage, for if they could 
not understand the authority of God in a won- 
der-working teacher, how could they under- 
stand the deep mystery of the Incarnation? 
I^et them but be faithful to the inner voice of 
reason and of faith and the result is certain : 
"Every one that hath heard of the Father 
and hath learned cometh to Me." More than 
this invisible drawing no man dare claim : 
"Not that any man hath seen the Father, " I am the living bread." 
but he who is of God, he hath seen the Father. 
Amen, Amen," finally exclaims the Master with de- 
cisive authority, " I say unto you he that believeth in 
Me hath everlasting life. I am the bread of life. 
Your fathers did eat manna in the desert and are 
dead. This is the bread that cometh down from 
Heaven, that if any man eat of it he may not die." 
And now follows the amazing doctrine of the 
Eucharist. It is the communication to us of the 
actual body and blood of Christ, and with it the 
fruits of His atonement for our sins. The life of 
faith by belief in Jesus Christ as God's spokesman, 
His Word, is one with the life of sanctification 
through His atonement, His bloody death upon the 
Cross. Both the truth of God in Christ's teaching 
and the pardon of God through Christ's suffering are 
to be ours in entire fulness. Therefore our Saviour, 
having chosen bread as the figure of the one, chooses 
bread again as the outward form of the other. His 



336 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

communication of Himself to us as our Redeemer (as 
will be seen at the Last Supper) is to be under the 
form of bread for His body and of wine for His blood. 
The bread of faith makes us partakers of the mental 
life of Jesus ; the Eucharistic bread makes us partakers 
of His physical life, given for us in His death on 
the Cross. Thus the whole Christ, physical as well 
as spiritual, is communicated to each Christian — name- 
ly, as the Word of God in faith, as the Lamb of 
God in sacrificial food. This is life as it is in 
Christ and as it is imparted by Christ. The reader 
will perceive in the successive sentences of this as- 
tonishing discourse that it is a summary of Christ's 
way of imparting His life to His believers and His 
lovers. 

" I am the living bread which came down from 
Heaven. If any man eat of this bread he shall live 
for ever ; and the bread that I will give is My flesh 
for the life of the world." His hearers were of too 
gross a nature to understand that the spirit sanctifies 
the flesh and can and does use it for highest spiritual 
purposes ; and they were too proud to wait patient- 
ly for explanations of a mysterious statement: "The 
Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying : How 
shall this man give us His flesh to eat ? ' ' Our Sav- 
iour's purpose of a literal, a flesh and blood union with 
men now fully appears. For if He had used the word 
flesh as a mere figure of speech He must have said 
so, as in similar circumstances He had done before 
and will do afterwards. But he insists and reinsists 
upon the literal meaning, always expressly connect- 
ing with it the imparting of life : " Then Jesus said 
to them, Amen, Amen, I say unto you, except you 
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, 
you shall not have life in you. He that eateth My 



THE BREAD OF LIFE. 



337 



flesh and drinketh My blood hath everlasting life, 
and I will raise him up in the last day. For My 
flesh is meat indeed and My blood is drink indeed. 
He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood 
abideth in Me and I in him." 

Perhaps the strongest words in all Scripture are 
those which follow. The introduction of humanity 
into the Deity by adoption of sonship can only be 
perfected by the extension to each of us of the hu- 
man nature of Jesus, which enjoys 
personal oneness with the divine 
nature of the Father : ' ' As the living 
Father hath sent Me, and as I live 
by the Father, so he that eateth 
Me, the same also shall live by 
Me." The divinity came to humani- 
ty as a race by a Man-God ; it shall 
take personal possession of each in- 
dividual by a Man- God. But how? 
What can be the meaning of eating 
the Master's flesh and blood — not 
figuratively but literally ? Our Sav- 
iour's only answer is a recurrence to 
what He taught in opening His 
discourse. He that accepts the Messias as the bread 
of faith takes His teaching implicitly, confides ab- 
solutely in Him, saying credo — mystery or no mys- 
tery, I believe! " This is the bread that came down 
from Heaven," He says. "Not as your fathers did 
eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread 
shall live for ever." 

Here, then, is a most singular satisfaction of man's 
craving for the infinite, the master passion of the race 
in all ages. Man and God are to be made one by 
physical union (as food is united to the body) be- 



I am the Living Bread which came 
down from heaven. If any man eat of this 
bread he shall live for ever ; and the bread 
that I will give is my flesh for the life of 
the world. The Jews therefore strove 
among themselves, saying : How shall this 
man give us his flesh to eat ? Then Jesus 
said to them : Amen, amen, 1 say unto you, 
except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man 
and drink his blood you shall not have life 
in you. He that eateth my flesh and drink- 
eth my blood hath everlasting life, and I 
will raise him up in the last day. For my 
flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink 
indeed. He that eateth my flesh and 
drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in 
him. As the living Father hath sent me 
and I live by the Father, so he that eateth 
me, the same also shall live by me. This 
is the bread that came down from heaven. 
Not as your fathers did eat manna and are 
dead. He that eateth this bread shall live 
for ever. 



33 8 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

tween the Christ and His loving disciple. And this 
corporal union best conveys the spiritual life. The 
physical life of Christ from the first throb in Mary's 
womb till His last gasp on Calvary, was the vehicle 
to us of the life of God. By every look, tone, word, 
touch, sigh, tear, blood-drop, God's life went forth 
from our Saviour to His disciples. As one gives first a 
cup of water from a spring to the hot and dusty way- 
farer and then gives the spring itself, so does God, 
following up the gift of the teaching Christ, give us 
the fulness of the divine life in the Eucharistic Christ. 
As one man heals another by infusing his own whole- 
some blood into his veins, so is the redeeming blood 
of Christ physically poured upon us and into us by 
the Eucharist. As by the bodily life and death of 
Christ, and not by His spiritual influence alone, the 
life of God is offered to us as a race, so by our own 
bodily life absorbing Christ's own bodily life is that 
divine life perfected in us one by one. The end of 
man is the infinite God ; He having come to us in 
flesh and blood, now by flesh and blood will absorb 
us and hold us as a living man holds his living blood. 



THE DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST. 



339 



CHAPTER XXXIX, 



MANY DISCIPLES GO BACK FROM JESUS ON ACCOUNT 



nn 



i 






J 



OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST. 

John vi. 61-72. 

^p\ F they of Capharnaum had known how to love 
God, they might indeed have wondered at the 
gift of the Real Presence, but it would not have 
shocked them into disbelief. L,ove believeth 
all things. But we are not surprised that the 
synagogue, in which Jesus held His discourse, 
became the scene of violent discussion, for this 
singular doctrine puzzled even the disciples, 
and some even revolted against it. Yet if they would 
but take Jesus at His word and wait for explanations 
and abide all results in simple faith, the mystery 
would but add another divine wonder to their Master's 
[religion. Had they not known Him render His body 
invisible, superior to the force of gravity ? Had He 
| not but the night before walked in the air and upon 
the water — His own bodily self? Did not a touch of 
His very clothes heal diseases ? What could He not 
do with that body, that wonderful body ? 
If He could walk the water with it, if He 
could raise it and lower it at will, if He could 
make it visible and invisible, why not give it 
the form of bread, why not sink it into our 
bodies ? But ' ' many therefore of His dis- 
ciples hearing it, said : This is a hard saying 
and who can hear it ? But Jesus know- 
ing in Himself that His disciples mur- 
mured at this, said to them : Doth 
this scandalize you ? If then you shall 




see the Son of Man ascend up where 



This is a hard saying." 




Lord, to whom shall we go ? 



340 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

He was before?" As if to say, My power and My 
love are masters of My body, and can do with it all 
that agrees with the original purpose I had in view 
in taking a bod}' and in becoming man. For God 
to come down from Heaven and take a human body, 
for God in His human body to reascend to heaven, 
for God in His human body to make Himself the very 
food and drink of His beloved — all this is one — that is, 
if you will understand that spirit and flesh go to- 
gether as master and servant : ( ' It is the spirit that 
quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words 
that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." 

Butcher's meat was their idea of the flesh of Jesus, 
and that was because they were unspiritual men. 
The religious spirit was different : " But there are some 
of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the be- 
ginning who they were that did not believe, and who 
he was that would betray Him. And He said, There- 
fore did I say to you, that no man can come to Me, un- 
less it be given him by My Father. After this many 
of His disciples went back and walked no more with 
Him." Just as in high altitudes the rarity of the air 
is unbearable by those whose heart-action is not per- 
fectly sound, so in the following of Jesus the atmos- 
phere was becoming oppressive to weak souls. 
As the teaching of the Master gradually was 
developed, earthly views, human motives, re- 
liance on human power, gross appetites, were 
more and more excluded. The means and in- 
strumentalities by which the love of Jesus 
should become the bond of union between Him 
and His followers are all mysterious, a miracu- 
lous adjustment of material things to superna- 
tural ones. There is water and the Holy 
Ghost ; there is a human word and divine par- 



:i 



THE DOCTRINE OF THE EUCHARIST. 341 

don ; there is eating and drinking with the ever-living 
Son of God as the meat and drink of the feast. Eleva- 
tion of mind, in other words absolute faith, was neces- 
sary for the discipleship. This was the Baptist's 
meaning when he spoke of the Messias and His fan 
upon the threshing-floor winnowing out the chaff. 

Jesus now applies the test boldly, so that when 
" many of the disciples went back and walked no 
more with Him, then Jesus said to the twelve : 
Will you also go away ? And Simon Peter answered 
Him : Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the 
words of eternal life. And we have believed and 
have known that Thou art the Christ, the Son of 
God." How true an act of faith ! Peter does not say, 
We understand your teaching, we have better minds 
than these others, we have had more instruction than 
these doubters — and hence we believe. No. Peter's 
faith and that of all the true disciples rests upon Jesus 
Himself, upon His truthfulness, upon His office of 
Messias, upon His divinity, not upon their own 
understanding and their own knowledge. 

With this occasion, and its marvellous discourse, 
which is the prophecy of the Eucharist, the name of 
Judas the traitor is associated, as it is with the ful- 
filment of the prophecy at the Last Supper. Was the 
avarice of the Traitor the cause of his lack of faith, or 
just the reverse ? We know not. We remember, 
however, that Jesus " knew who he was that would 
betray Him." And now again: " Jesus answered 
them : Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of 
you is a devil ? Now He meant Judas Iscariot, the 
son of Simon, for this same was about to betray Him, 
whereas he was one of the twelve." It was the 
pity of Jesus that dictated this warning to Judas, 
that he might either repent and remain a disciple, 



342 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

or at an)' rate openly join the enemy. But avarice 

is a vice generally accompanied by besotted ob- 
stinacy. 



CHAPTER XL. 



AND 




"They found fault. 



EATING WITH UNWASHED HANDS. INWARD 

OUTWARD DEFILEMENT. 

Matt. xv. 1-20 ; Mark vii. 1-23. 

The Pharisees had established a system of ab- 
lutions so minute as to be an intolerable burden. 
Twenty-six different directions were given for wash- 
ing the hands in the morning alone, and countless 
other regulations about cleansing not only the per- 
son but everything made use of, all on pretence of 
avoiding legal uncleanness. This almost incredible 
network of observances entangled men at every step 
and was insisted on with rigor, even with fierceness. 
Naturally it diverted men from the substance of 
the Mosaic law, and elevated outward conformity 
above inward principle. One might contract un- 
cleanness twenty times a day, often without being 
aware of it ; and how serious a matter this was is 
known from the saying of their Rabbis, " He who 
sits down to table with hands unwashed is as guilty 
as one who commits adultery." 

Jesus emancipated His Apostles from this slavery, 
this nursing mother of hypocrites ; and they openly 
disregarded these customs, much to the scandal of 
the Pharisees. These finally took our Saviour to 
task for it. They were some of those sent down from 
Jerusalem to spy upon our Saviour. "And there 
assembled together unto Him the Pharisees and some 
of the Scribes, coming from Jerusalem. And when 
they had seen some of His disciples eat bread with 



INWARD AND OUTWARD DEFILEMENT. 343 

common, that is, with unwashed hands, they found 
fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews eat not 
without often washing their hands, holding the tradi- 
tion of the ancients, and when they come from the 
market, unless they be washed, they eat not, and 
many other things there are that have been delivered 
to them to observe, the washing of cups, and of 
pots, and of brazen vessels, and of beds. And the 
Pharisees and Scribes asked Him : Why do not Thy 
disciples walk according to the tradition of the 
ancients ? but they eat bread with common [unclean] 
hands." A hot rebuke was the answer to their com- 
plaint, a rebuke which cut to the root of their error, 
exposing the human and therefore usurped authority 
of their traditions : ' ' Well did Isaias prophesy of you 
hypocrites as it is written : This people honoreth Me 
with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in 
vain do they worship Me, teaching doctri?ies and precepts of 
men. For leaving the commandment of God, you hold 
the tradition of men, the washing of pots and cups, and 
many other things you do like to these." External ob- 
servance has its place, but not at any time as standing 
alone, nor ever without the authority of God. Valid 
external religion is like the body, a God-given external 
help to the soul : but the soul is always the chief thing. 
The Pharisees and Scribes unlawfully thrust their 
system of outward observances into the holiest relations 
of life. The Master instances: "Well do you make 
void the commandment of God, that you may keep 
your own tradition. For Moses said : Honor thy father 
and thy mother, and he that shall curse his father or 
mother, dying let him die. But you say, if a man 
shall say to his father or mother, Corban (which is 
a gift), whatsoever is from me shall profit thee. 
And further you suffer him not to do anything for 



344 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

his father or mother, making void the word of God 
by your own tradition which you have given forth. 
And many other such like things you do." 

Upon this He turned to the multitude and ad- 
dressed them on this topic, a practice of His which 
enraged the Scribes, for it was appealing from their 
formalism and pettiness to the simple good sense of 
a religious people: "And having called together the 
multitude unto Him, He said unto them : Hear ye 
and understand, not that which goeth into the mouth 
defileth a man, but what cometh out of the mouth, 
this defileth a man." And He laid stress upon it, say- 
ing : "If any one have ears to hear, let him hear." 
Even the holy practice of fasting, valued by the 
Saviour Himself as of divine institution, depended 
for its worth on the interior sentiment of repentance. 
Jesus would rather a man should eat a full meal 
and be good natured than utter proud censure of 
his neighbor on a fasting stomach. And when the 
disciples told Him of the scandal taken by the Phari- 
sees on account of this teaching, He said: "Every 
plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted 
shall be rooted up. Let them alone, they are blind, 
and leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the 
blind, both fall into the pit." But when He came 
indoors He gave them a fuller explanation about fast- 
ing, reproaching them as being themselves "without 
knowledge. Understand you not that everything 
from without, entering into a man, cannot defile him? 
But it entereth not into his heart, but goeth into 
the belly, and goeth out into the privy, purging all 
meats. But the things which proceed out of the 
mouth come forth from the heart, and those defile a 
man. For from the heart come forth evil thoughts, 
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testi- 



INWARD AND OUTWARD DEFILEMENT. 345 

monies, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lascivious- 
ness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. These 
are the things which defile a man ; but to eat with 
unwashed hands doth not defile a man." 

Real uncleanness is a guilty conscience. The con- 
sciousness of wilful disobedience to the known law 
of God, whether it command fasting or feasting, is 
the only uncleanness properly so called. Eating and 
drinking is an indifferent act until it crosses God's 
will. It may borrow from that will a moral dignity 
of the highest sort, but it is sinful under any condi- 
tions if against that will. It is so with all external 
practices of religion. They are calculated to deepen 
interior conviction by outward expression, to increase 
merit by external constancy, to draw others onward 
by good example — all conditioned upon the intention, 
the secret attitude of the soul towards God. Hence 
in those holy observances called the sacraments, which 
Christ Himself instituted as outward signs and 
channels of inward grace, before approaching them 
the Christian strictly examines his soul's interior 
condition, aided by the Christian ministry which has 
them in custody and imparts them. 

The real man is both inner and outer, and the per- 
fect agreement of these two orders of life is human 
conduct brought to perfection. Fanaticism would 
dispense the soul of man from all external aids of j 1 
religion ; formalism would make the totality of reli- £" 
gion a series of external practices. Both are wrong „ ?. 
The religion of Christ is alone right. That unites 
the inner life of divine grace with the outer life, 
and thereby produces within our souls the highest 
results in interior love and faith and trustful con- 
fidence, adorned by the most beautiful and edify- 

- , . . , , " Holding the tradition 

mg expression of the same in outward observance. cf the ancients." 





346 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XLI. 

THE SYRO-PHCENICIAN WOMAN. 

Matt. xv. 21-38 ; Mark vii. 24.-37. 

ND rising from thence He went into the coasts 
of Tyre and Sidon." Jesus knew that His enemies 
in high places were ready to put Him to death ; 
or, more accurately, to assist others to do it. Flight, 
at least for a time, had become necessary, and He 
knew that a temporary security could be had hy 
crossing the province of Galilee in a northwesterly 
direction to the borders of Tyre and Sidon, the 
neighborhood of the heathen Gentiles. So secret 
were His designs that when He had passed over 
the smiling upland country of Galilee, perhaps making 
the journey by night, and had found the shelter He 
sought, He tried to keep for awhile in hiding : 
"And entering into a house, He would that no man 
should know it ; but He could not be hid." Not only 
did He want seclusion, but He did not wish to 
evangelize the heathen ; in less than two 3^ears they 
would have His Church and His Apostles. For the 
present every rule of prudence bound Him exclusive- 
ly to the Israelites, though He had already plainly 
taught the universality of the Glad Tidings. 

But the eager heart of a distressed woman antici- 
pated this introduction of the Gentiles, helped, per- 
haps, by the suggestions of some of the devout women 
always in the Master's following ; or perhaps she 
was a Jewish proselyte. At any rate, she knew who 
He was, and knew it accurately, and was full of faith 
in Him: "A woman of Chanaan came out of these 
coasts, and crying out said to Him, Have mere} 7 on 
me, O L,ord, Thou Son of David, my daughter is 



THE SYRO-PHOENICIAN WOMAN. 



347 



grievously troubled by a devil. But He answered 
her not a word." Too kind to deny her, He was 
yet unwilling to advertise His coming by a miracle, 
or to overleap the bounds of His mission. But a 
mother's heart was her advocate. She ran along after 
Him beseeching ' ' that He would cast forth the devil 
out of her daughter. ' ' Finally the disciples interfered ; 
they were moved, doubtless, by pity 
for her, but also, perhaps, by fear 
of her gathering the people by her 
loud pleading. "Send her away," 
was their form of asking for the 
miracle, c< for she crieth after us." 
Then Jesus said these words — very 
hard words from one so kind, that 
is, if He intended them for the wo- 
man's ears ; in that case He had 
made up His mind to cure the 
daughter, but would strengthen the 
faith of the mother : ( ' I was not 
sent but to the sheep that are lost 
of the house of Israel." It may be 
that He spoke only to His Apostles. 
' ' But she came and adored Him say- 
ing, Iyord help me ! " Upon which 
she was given a blow that would 
have silenced any ordinary soul, but 
was in her case calculated to develop to the uttermost 
her love of her daughter and her faith in Israel's Mes- 
sias : " Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is not 
good to take the bread from the children and cast it to 
the dogs." The renowned virtue of faith rings out in 
this Chanaanitish woman's answer: "Yea, Lord, for 
the whelps also eat under the table of the crumbs 
of the children." I am not a child of the household, 



41 SEND HER AWAY, FOR SHE CRIETH AF- 
TER US." 

And behold a woman of Chanaan who 
came out of those coasts, crying out, said 
to him : Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou 
Son of David, my daughter is grievously 
troubled by a devil. Who answered her 
not a word. And his disciples came and 
besought him, saying : Send her away, 
for she crieth after us. For the woman 
was a Gentile, a Syro-Phcenician born. And 
she besought him that he would cast forth 
the devil out of her daughter. And he 
answering, said : I was not sent but to the 
sheep that are lost of the house of Israel. 
But she came and adored him, saying : 
Lord, help me. Who answering said : 
Suffer first the children to be filled, for it is 
not good to take the bread from the chil- 
dren, and cast it to the dogs. But she 
answered and said to him : Yea, Lord, for 
the whelps also eat under the table, of the 
crumbs of the children. Then Jesus an- 
swering, said to her : O woman, great is 
thy faith, be it done to thee as thou wilt ; 
for this saying, go thy way, the devil is 
gone out of thy daughter. And when she 
was come into her house, she found the 
girl lying upon the bed, and that the devil 
was gone out. And her daughter was cured 
from that hour. 



348 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




I was not 
lost 



as if to say, but yet I am at least the Master's dog ; 

I am not worthy of a full meal, yet surely I may 

be given the leavings of the children — humility, trust, 
persistence, courage, fidelity to the 
demoniac daughter are the great 
qualities of this woman's prayer. 
It was a prayer of faith — faith bred 
amid the idols of wood and stone 
and the unclean rites of paganism. 
It was instantly rewarded. " O wo- 
man," exclaimed Jesus, "great is 
thy faith, be it done to thee as thou 
wilt ; for this saying go thy way, 
the devil is gone out of thy daughter. 
And her daughter was cured from 
that hour." What effect, we may 
ask, had this showing of Gentile 
faith on the Apostles ? Perhaps it 
astonished them more than the mira- 
cle itself, for miracles had become 
common occurrences. But some of 
them must have thought of the great 

future of the Glad Tidings among the heathen as 

foreshadowed by this occurrence. 



sent but to the sheep that are 
of the house of Israel." 



MIRACLES IN THE DECAPOLIS. 349 

CHAPTER XLII. 

IN THE DECAPOLIS. HEADING THE DEAF AND 

DUMB MAN. SECOND MIRACEE OF THE LOAVES 

AND FISHES. 

Matt. xv. 29-39 ; Mark vii. 31—37, a?id viii. 1—10. 

We do not know precisely how long a time Jesus 
and His disciples remained in the pagan communi- 
ties along the borders of Tyre and Sidon, nor the 
exact road He took when He came back east 011 His 
way towards the Decapolis. There was a choice of 
routes. The Decapolis lies east of the Jordan and 
south of Lake Genesareth. On consulting the map 
we find that Jesus could have followed the Mediter- 
ranean coast roads southward till near Mount Carmel, 
and then, by the valley of the Kishon and passing 
through His old home at Nazareth, He could reach 
the banks of the Jordan amid the cities whose num- 
ber, ten, gave the Decapolis its name. But this is 
not the route our Saviour chose, for it would have 
brought Him again into immediate contact and con- 
flict with His enemies. Therefore "He came by 
Sidon to the sea of Galilee" ; that is to say, going 
northward from Tyre to Sidon, thence He started 
straight eastward. This would take Him across the 
river Leontis and the upper waters of the Jordan, and 
then along the foot-hills of the Le- 
banon mountains. Turning south- 
ward, and making a detour to the 
east, to avoid the shores of Genesa- 
reth at Bethsaida, He finally reach- 
ed the Decapolis : such is our con- 
jecture. It was a journey of several 
days, made doubtless on foot (ex- 



EPHPHETA ! 

And they bring to him one deaf and dumb, 
and they besought him that he would lay 
his hand upon him. And taking him from 
the multitude apart, he put his fingers into 
his ears, and spitting, he touched his 
tongue, and looking up to heaven he 
groaned and said to him, Ephpheta, which 
is : Be thou opened. And immediately his 
ears were opened and the string of his 
tongue was loosed, and he spoke right. 



35o 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



"I HAVE COMPASSION ON THE MULTITUDE." 

And Jesus, in those days again when 
there was a great multitude, and had noth- 
ing to eat, calling his disciples together, he 
saith to them : I have compassion on the 
multitude, for behold they have now been 
with me three days, and have not what to 
eat ; and if I send them away fasting to 
their home, they will faint in the way, for 
some of them came from afar off. And the 
disciples say unto him : Whence then shall 
we have so many loaves in the desert as to 
fill so great a multitude ? And Jesus said 
to them : How many loaves have you ? 
But they said : Seven, and a few little 
fishes. And he commanded the multitude 
to sit down upon the ground. And taking 
the loaves and the fishes, and giving thanks, 
he brake and gave to his disciples, and the 
disciples gave to the people. And they 
did all eat and were filled. And they took 
up seven basketsful of what remained of 
the fragments. And they that did eat were 
four thousand men, besides children and 
women. And having dismissed the multi- 
tude he went up into a boat and came into 
the coasts of Magedan (or) into the parts of 
Dalmanutha. 



cept that we may suppose the wo- 
men of the company rode on camels 
or asses), and it lay for the most 
part through a heathen population. 
Many opportunities for instruction 
were improved by our Saviour as 
the caravan journeyed on, or while 
the camp was being made for the 
night. Meantime the honest Israel- 
ites in the Saviour's company saw 
the abominations of idolatry in false 
worship and foul immorality every- 
where about them. 

In the Decapolis the mixed popu- 
lation of pagans and Hebrews would 
help Jesus to remain comparatively 
unobserved, if such a thing were 
any longer possible. The Evangelist 
St. Mark tells us what happened. Our Saviour used a 
ceremony for this miracle of curing the deaf mute, as 
He did for various others. He took the poor creature 
apart so that all could see and hear what was done ; He 
groaned and looked up to heaven ; He anointed his 
tongue with spittle; He put His fingers in his ears; 
He solemnly spoke the words of healing to the man's 
senses as if to living beings — "Be thou opened!" 
All this is but one instance of the Master's use of 
outward forms in His religion, and hence a lesson 
that we also should use them. This particular case 
is notable because the Christian Church has adopted 
both the words and actions, in her ceremonies of 
Baptism. 

"And He charged them that they should tell no 
man. But the more He charged them, so much the 
more a great deal did they publish it. And so much 



MIRACLES IN THE DECAPOLIS. 



351 



the more did they wonder, saying : He hath 
done all things well, He hath made both the 
deaf to hear and the dumb to speak." In 
vain did He command secrecy ; He was pub- 
lished everywhere in the neighborhood, and 
as He came to the shores of the lake multi- 
tudes of the lame and the deaf and 
the blind were cured, so that the very 
heathens " glorified the God of Israel." 
"And when Jesus had passed away 
from them He came nigh the Sea of 
Galilee, and going up into a mountain 
He sat there. And there came to Him great 
multitudes having with them the dumb, the 
blind, the lame, the maimed, and many others, 
and they cast them down at His feet, and He 
healed them. So that the multitudes marvel- 
led seeing the dumb speak, the lame walk, the 
blind see, and they glorified the God of Israel." 
It was under these circumstances that the 
Master took occasion to repeat His miracle of 
the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. 
It served to impress with His authority an 
assemblage made up to a great extent of pagans, and 
to reward the fidelity of many faithful men and 
women who, with their families of children, had fol- 
lowed Him for three days, some of them from a 
distance. When Jesus said: "I have compassion 
on the multitude," His disciples knew what to an- 
swer — almost the same words they had used unwit- 
tingly to stimulate Him to the previous miracle : 
"Whence shall we have so many loaves?" — they 
had but seven in their little store of food, and a few 
small fishes. Four thousand men, not counting wo- 
men and children, were fed at this generous banquet, 




" And looking- up to heaven 
He groaned." 



352 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

and seven baskets were filled with what was left 
over. When all was done He sent the people to their 
homes, and entering a boat crossed over the lake. 



CHAPTER XLJII. 

THE PHARISEES AGAIN DEMAND A SIGN IN THE 
HEAVENS. — "BEWARE OF THE LEAVEN OF THE 
PHARISEES." THE BLIND MAN AT BETHSAIDA. 

Matt. xvi. 1-12 ; Mark viii. 11-26. 

It is not certain just where Magedan, the point 
on the lake shore to which Jesus now passed, was 
situated, but it was very likely a little to the south 
of Capharnaum. The Master went there to comfort 
His many faithful followers living in the vicinity. 
They needed His presence, for the Pharisees were 
active against His teaching. They had sought the 
aid of the Herodians, as we have seen, and even took 
counsel with the Sadducees, their bitter enemies — any- 
thing to destroy Jesus. The Pharisees did not hate 
the Sadducees less, but they hated Jesus more. "And 
there came to Him Pharisees and Sadducees tempting, 
and they asked Him to show them a sign from Heaven. 
And sighing deeply in spirit, He saith : Why doth 
this generation ask a sign ? Amen, I say to yo u, a 
sign shall not be given to this generation. When it 
is evening you say, It will be fine weather, for the 
sky is red ; and in the morning : To-day there will 
be a storm, for the sky is red and lowering. You 
know then how to discern the face of the sky, and 
can you not know the signs of the times ? A wicked 
and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and 
a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas the 
prophet." 



"BEWARE THE LEA VEN OF THE PHARISEES:* 353 

Instantly on His landing they tried Him about 
the "sign from Heaven," meaning some portent in 
the sky. Daniel (vii. 13) and Joel (iii. 15) had 
prophesied some such miracle, and as Jesus had 
not yet shown it, they fancied that it was the limit 
of His power. Their whole mind was wrong. They 
assumed to limit and to judge a Being whose every 
discourse was full of divine truth, whose every step 
was marked by prodigies luminous with the light 
of heaven. No wonder that Jesus sighed deeply at 
such perverseness. A simple mind could read Him 
as a farmer or a sailor reads the signs of the weather 
in the gathering storm-clouds, or as a devout soul 
perceives God's will in the " signs of the times." 
Therefore He repeated His former admonition : "A 
wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, 
and a sign shall not be given it, but the sign of Jonas 
the prophet. And leaving them He went up again 
into the ship and passed to the other side of the 
water." But He did not depart, we may be assured, 
without some further teaching for the comfort of His 
followers and of His many faithful adherents living in 
that vicinity. 

The Messias was weary of heart. With all His 
love, His heavenly doctrine, His miracles, what 
progress had He made ? As He sailed past Ca- 
pharnaum on His way to Bethsaida, and saw its 
beautiful streets lined with pleasant homes and cool 
gardens, He must have felt downcast to think that 
He was actually avoiding it, sailing around it for 
fear of His enemies, lest His very Apostles should be 
contaminated. The alliance of the Pharisees with 
the Herodians gave the former the backing of the 
law, the brute force of the state. It was now not 
only the exponents of Jewish orthodoxy but the 



354 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




M He led him out of the town. 



•'BEWARE OF THE LEAVEN OF THE 
PHARISEES." 

And leaving- them, he went up again into 
the ship and passed to the other side of 
the water. And they forgot to take bread, 
and they had but one loaf with them in 
the ship. And he charged them, saying : 
Take heed and beware of the leaven of the 
Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod. And 
they reasoned among themselves, saying : 
Because we have no bread. Which Jesus 
knowing, saith to them : Why do you 
reason, because you have no bread ? do 
you not yet know or understand ? have 
you still your heart blinded ? having eyes 
see you not ? and having ears hear you 
not ? neither do you remember ? When 1 
broke the five loaves among five thousand, 
how many baskets full of fragments took 
you up ? They said to him : Twelve. 
When also the seven loaves among four 
thousand, how many baskets of fragments 
took you up ? And they said to him : 
Seven. And he said to them : Why do 
you not understand, that it was not con- 
cerning bread I said to you : Beware of 
the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees ? 
Then they understood that he said, not 
only that they should beware of the leaven 
of bread, but of the doctrine of the Phari- 
sees and Sadducees. 



officers of the secular law and the sol- 
diers of the despot that He had to fear. 
These sad thoughts rose to His lips in a 
tender admonition to His Apostles : 
" Take heed and beware of the leaven 
of the Pharisees, and the leaven of 
Herod." Now, at that very moment 
they discovered that they had forgotten 
to bring a supply of bread. Poor Apos- 
tles ! They could do no better in answer 
to His words than to accuse themselves 
of this bit of forgetfulness : ' ' Because 
we have no bread." This, however, 
served their Master for pushing home 
His warning: "Why do you reason, 
because you have no bread ? When 
I broke the five loaves among five 
thousand, how many baskets full of 
fragments took you up ? They say 
to Him : Twelve. When also the 
seven loaves among four thousand, 
how many baskets of fragments 
took you up ? And they say to 
Him : Seven. And he said to them : 
Why do you not understand that it 
was not concerning bread I said to 
3^ou, Beware of the leaven of the 
Pharisees and Sadducees?" Asa 
matter of fact none are so stupid as 
the morally weak, who often relapse 
after repentance because they eat and 
drink in the company of former com- 
panions in sin, and are thereby again 
leavened with corruption ; hence our 
ford's warning to His disciples. 



THE BLIND MAN A T BETHSAIDA. 



355 



He was soon out of reach of the Herodians, a 
term applied to the minions of Herod-Antipas, the 
murderer of the Baptist. The transit of the lake 
had brought our Saviour and His party to Bethsaida, 
a town in the dominions of Herod-Philip, the brother 
indeed of Antipas, but quite unlike him, being a 
peaceful prince. Bent upon a special purpose, land- 
ing and turning northward, the Master was yet un- 
able to get away from the town with- 
out a miracle. Using this occasion, as 
He had recently used another, to teach 
the value of emblems and signs in re- 
ligion, He anointed the eyes of a blind 
man, to whom He gave sight, with spit- 
tle, and touched them with His holy 
hand : " They brought to Him a blind 
man, and they besought Him that He 
would touch him. And taking the 
blind man by the hand, He led him 
out of the town, and spitting upon his 
eyes, laying His hands on him, He ask- 
ed him if he caw anything. And look- 
ing up he said, I see men as it were 
trees walking. After that again, He 
laid His hands upon his eyes and he 
began to see, and was restored so that 
he saw all things clearly." It is sad to think that 
the first act of thanksgiving our Saviour was con- 
strained to ask was concealment of the miracle : "Go 
into thy house, and if thou enter into the town, 
tell nobody." 




He laid His hands 
and he began 



upon 
to see 



hi 



is eyes 



356 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XLIV. 

"thou art peter." 

Matt. xvi. 13-19 ; Mark viii. 27-29 ; Luke ix. 18-20. 

A secluded spot was necessary for our Saviour's 
immediate purpose. This was the establishment of 
the Apostle Peter's peculiar authority, and that of 
his successors, in the Christian Church — the Papacy. 

The holy company ascended the eastern bank of the 
Jordan, passing the bridge of Jacob and the bitter 
lake of Merom, until they were among the sources 
of the sacred river. It was near Caesarea-Philippi 
that they encamped, or were harbored by some kindly 
Jewish country people. Caesarea was the capital of 
the tetrarchy of Herod-Philip, a pagan city in which 
our Hebrew caravan would not have felt itself at 
home. The surrounding country was partly Hebrew 
and partly Gentile, so that in this new environ- 
ment the Master, now far removed from His enemies, 
could peacefully develop to His disciples so grave a 
matter as that of the paramount authority in His 
Church. Of this essential feature of God's spiritual 
kingdom St. Matthew gives our Saviour's teaching 
in His own words, only a fragment, perhaps, of an 
extended discourse, but the entire fulness of its sub- 
stance. That the Master intended the time and the 
event to be full of great results is shown by St. 
Luke's statement that our Saviour "was alone pray- 
ing" just before those questions and answers which 
are of such moment in His formative action on His 
Church. 

He introduces His doctrine of Peter's supremacy 
by a demand for the Apostles' profession of faith in 
His Messias-ship and in His divinity. They must have 



THOU ART PETER. 



357 



understood it so, when He said: "Who do the peo- 
ple say that the Son of Man is? " It would appear 
to be an inopportune moment to ask such a question, 
to subject His immediate followers to such an ordeal, 
for never had He seemed more merely human than 
during their recent journeyings — flights from His 
enemies, as they might better be called. He was 
even anxious to hide His miracu- 
lous power, working not many mira- 
cles, and commanding concealment 
even of those He did work. The 
faith which under these conditions 
could cry out with the quick instinct 
of unfaltering loyalty, " Thou art 
the Son of God ! ' ' was worthy to 
be the enduring basis of the new 
religion, root-faith, rock-faith, key- 
faith ; it was to be known as the 
Petrine faith, in the ages to come. 
"Who do the people say that the 
Son of Man is ? But they said : 
Some John the Baptist, and other 
some Klias, and others Jeremias or 
one of the prophets." 

This shows a confused faith among the people, or 
rather an introductory one. As if to say, Here is some 
mighty teacher sent from God, but we know not 
just who or what he is. Then Jesus tests His 
Apostles. Have they improved upon this ? Is their 
faith in Him clear ? Can they be set above the rest 
of the Jewish world? "Jesus saith to them, But who 
do you say that I am ? ' ' He must have something 
different from them. If they are what they should 
be, He is to them not simply the voice of one in the 
wilderness calling to penance, as was John ; nor the 



"THOU ART PETER." 

And Jesus came into the quarters of 
Caesarea Philippi. And it came to pass, as 
he was alone praying, his disciples also 
were with him, and he asked them say- 
ing : Who do the people say that the Son 
of Man is ? But they said : Some John 
the Baptist, and other some Elias, and 
others Jeremias or one of the prophets. 
Jesus saith to them : But who do you say 
that I am ? Simon Peter answered and 
said : Thou art Christ, the Son of the liv- 
ing God. And Jesus answering said to 
him : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, 
because flesh and blood hath not revealed 
it to Thee, but My Father who is in 
heaven. And I say to thee, that thou art 
Peter, and upon this rock I will build My 
Church, and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it. And I will give to thee 
the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. And 
whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it 
shall be bound also in heaven, and what- 
soever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall 
be loosed also in heaven. 



358 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




return of mighty Elias or Jeremias to recall Israel 
to primitive fervor, to racial independence, to holy 
gainst the corrupt and idolatrous nations 
the world. Jesus called men to pen- 
re, as did John; He mourned over the 
lecay of true religious fervor, as did 
'eremias ; He had the lofty fearlessness 
which distinguished Elias. But He 
is infinitely more than an}' or all 
of these. He is the Master and 
Lord of both people and pro- 
phets. He is the Messias. He 
is prophet of Himself, and He 
is His own voice. He is the 
Son of God. Had His Apostles 
become persuaded of that? Did 
they not only know it, but know 
it in a way different from the 
common opinion ? Did the}' feel 
the spell of Messianic faith ? He will apply the test : 
" Who do you say, ,! — how solemnly and yet how 
tenderly He must have asked! — "Who do you say 
that the Son of Man is?" It was the loving Father 
appealing from the rumors and opinions of the outside 
world to His own children for the true estimate of 
His character. The appeal was not in vain. 

The answer came from Peter. Xor was it on ac- 
count of the ardor of his love, the impulsiveness of his 
nature, the sincerity of his character that he made 
his great confession of faith. But it was now an 
inspiration from on high which caused him to utter 
the Apostolic faith ; the Heavenly Father stirred 
his heart and opened his lips. His voice rang out in 
tones clear and frank, thrilling with the conscious- 
ness not only of his own sincerity and the loyal ad- 



11 Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall 
be loosed also in Heaven," 



"THOU ART PE7ER." 



359 



hesion of his fellow-Apostles, but also of a secret 
revelation from Heaven: "Thou art the Christ, the 
Son of the living God! " 

The response of our Saviour to the Apostolic pro- 
fession of faith was instant, and it was of supreme im- 
portance. It concerned Peter in an exclusive manner ; 
for as God had given that Apostle a particular in- 
spiration of faith, Jesus accordingly bestowed on him 
a peculiar dignity. "And Jesus answering said to 
him : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, because flesh 
and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My 
Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee that 
thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My 
Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
it." Long before this Christ had set Peter apart 
from his fellow-disciples by giving him a new name, 
Simon Peter, Simon the Rock ; and now He explains 
the meaning of that name in reference to His Church. 
And under what very solemn circumstances : immedi- 
ately following that Apostle's public profession of the 
faith of his brethren and himself, a faith inspired by 
the divine Father, Jesus associates His Church with 
the faith of Peter as an architect places a building on 
its foundations. 

Peter is the foundation of the Church, a term 
now used by the Saviour for the first time ; Peter 
is placed in inseparable connection with His Church's 
indestructibility. Peter and Peter's faith is the 
foundation of the Church, which shall not be mov- 
ed by all the powers of darkness because rooted 
and grounded in divine truth by means of Peter's 
gift of faith — a special inner illumination of truth, 
a special guidance in its public expression. Peter 
and his successors deal directly with God for " T . ho " a * th< ! 

J Christ, the Son of 

guidance as teachers of the Church of Christ, and the living God." 




360 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

with all the world in the extent of their jurisdic- 
tion.* 

But our Saviour was not content with naming Pe- 
ter as the Rock among the Apostles. He adds a yet 
more perfect description of his dignity. He had used 
the word Church ; he now passes to the familiar term 
of Kingdom of Heaven, and gives Peter its Keys — a 
word universally accepted as the symbol of dominion. 
11 And I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom 
of Heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon 
earth, shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatsoever 
thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in 
Heaven." 

Later on the Lord will give the power of binding 
and loosing to all the Apostles, and this is an attri- 
bute of the entire Apostolic order, the Catholic epis- 
copate under the presidency of Peter's successor. But 
to Peter and his successors is granted the fulness of this 
power, being here given singly to him and on a separate 
occasion. This establishes the rule of one Apostolic 
head over the entire Church ; it institutes a living unit 
of government, positive, active, perpetual, not a passive 
primacy, much less an honorary distinction. 

From this moment onward whenever the Apos- 
tles hear Jesus name His Church, they will think of 
its foundation rock ; whenever He speaks of His 
Kingdom, they will recall that there is one among 
them who has received the keys of that Kingdom. 

* More of this we shall see when we come to Peter's consecration by 
the prayer of Christ to confirm his brother Apostles (Luke xxii. 31, 32) ; 
and when he is chosen from among the other shepherds of Christ's flock 
and appointed the chief shepherd (John xxi. 14-17). 




JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEA TH. 361 

CHAPTER XLV. 

JKSUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH. 

Matt, xvi. 20-28; Mark viii. 30-30; Luke ix. 21-27. 

UR Saviour " commanded His disciples that 
they should tell no man that He was 
Jesus the Christ." Therefore He 
must have had with Him only His 
especial followers, the Apostles and a 
small number of disciples ; for we 
could hardly understand His caution- 
ing in such a manner the usual great assemblage 
which followed Him. Every word now said in His 
favor hastened His battle with His enemies, and be- 
fore that happened He desired to teach more truth 
and work more wonders. Nor would He finish His 
work anywhere but at the Holy City, and the indis- 
cretion of His Apostles might defeat this purpose 
by bringing the conspiracy of the Pharisees to a 
head in the provinces. 

And so He turned the loving glances of His fol- 
lowers to the end of His life, a bitter and terrible 
end, whose shadow never quite lifted from His own 
spirit. Added to their faith in His divine mission 
must be the cruel test of fidelity to His death. 

With this purpose our Saviour, dropping all figures, 
told them the naked and horrible truth, no longer 
veiled under the type of Jonas, or of the destruction 
of the Temple, or of the brazen serpent, but plain 
as open words could make it, the triumph of His 
enemies, and His own ignominy and death. Peter 
mistook his duty upon hearing this, and would 
stand up and fight rather than lie down and suffer : 
"And from that time Jesus began to show to His 



362 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer 
many things from the ancients and scribes and chief 
priests, and be put to death, and the third day rise 
again. And He spoke the word openly. And Peter 
taking Him began to rebuke Him, saying : Lord, be 
it far from Thee, this shall not be unto Thee." Love 
revolted, faith revolted, manhood revolted ; but it 
was human love and faith, it was unregenerate man- 
hood : this was not the sentiment that had been re- 
vealed to Peter by the Heavenly Father. What Peter 
meant was resistance by force of arms ; but this would 
be to thrust the miserable passion .of war between 
Jesus and the race He would redeem. The Apostles, 
those courageous children of a warlike race, were all 
of the same mind as Peter. Oh, how hard it has 
ever been to teach naturally noble characters that 
the militant virtues of Christ are all intended for 
self-conquest — not anything left wherewith to conquer 
or even to resist the onslaughts of human enemies. 
The rebuke of Jesus to Peter was the bitterest He 
ever uttered to one of His own, except at the last 
to Judas ; it was administered before them all, for 
they were all involved in the fault. How deep a 
pain for Peter to hear himself called by the name 
of Satan — not that the term exclusively meant the 
Evil One ; but it did mean adversary : Jesus ' ' turn- 
ing about and seeing His disciples, said to Peter: 
Go behind Me, Satan, thou art a scandal unto Me, 
because thou savorest not of the things that are of 
God, but the things that are of men." 

And thereupon Jesus called up the multitude and 
to the whole assemblage, including His chosen fol- 
lowers, He delivered a discourse on the Cross. In 
prophetic tones He spoke from His gibbet, as He 
was destined to do in actual fact just before He died 



JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEA TH. 



363 



upon it. The cross is the balance on which our 
Saviour weighs the various great values of the world, 
including life itself ; and to the following effect : "If 
any man will come after Me let him deny himself, 
and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For 
whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and who- 
soever will lose his life for My sake and the Gospel, 
shall save it. For what doth it profit a man if he 
gain the whole world and suffer the 
loss of his soul ? Or what shall a 
man give in exchange for his soul?" 
Here we have Christ's theory of 
values. All that man loves in this 
life must go to purchase what he 
shall enjoy hereafter. Self-interest, 
pleasure, human glory are like gold 
and silver — good to purchase with, 
but not good to eat or to be clothed 
with or sheltered under. It is God's 
will that we shall first receive the 
good things of this life from His 
hands, and then prove our love of 
Him by giving them back to Him, 
trusting to Him blindly for the good things of the 
next life. Now, though this doctrine is plain to the 
true philosopher once he knows what God and man 
are to each other, it is hateful to the worldling. Our 
Saviour makes it, therefore, a most essential doctrine 
in His religion. 

The Cross typifies Christ. "With Christ," says 
St. Paul, " I am nailed to the Cross." And again, 
" I am not ashamed of the Cross." To be ashamed 
of poverty and of meekness is to be ashamed of 
Christ : they are the badges of the love of Christ. 
Our Saviour goes on : * ' He that shall be ashamed 



THE DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS. 

And calling the multitude together 
with his disciples, he said to them : If any 
man will come after me, let him deny 
himself, and take up his cross daily and 
follow me. For whosoever will save his 
life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose 
his life for my sake and the Gospel, shall 
save it. For what shall it profit a man if 
he gain the whole world and suffer the 
loss of his soul ? Or what shall a man 
give in exchange for his soul ? For he 
that shall be ashamed of me and of my 
words in this adulterous and sinful gener- 
ation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed 
of him, when he shall come in the glory 
of his Father with the holy angels ; and 
then will he render to every man accord- 
ing to his works. Amen I say to you, 
there are some standing here that shall 
not taste death till they see the Son of 
Man coming in his kingdom. 



364 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful 
generation, the Son of Man also shall be ashamed 
of him, when He shall come in the glory of His 
Father with the holy angels ; and then He will render 
to every man according to his works." This reference 
to the great day of reckoning fixes the law of self- 
denial as part of the code by which men shall be 
tried in that awful court, the other part being love 
of our neighbor. Nor was the world to be without a 
triumphant spectacle of this supremacy of the Cross, 
for His resurrection and ascension would display it. 
Hence He said: "Amen I say to you, there are 
some standing here who shall not taste death till 
they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom. 



CHAPTER XL VI. 

THE TRANSFIGURATION. 

Matt. xvii. i-ij ; Mark ix. 1-12 ; Luke ix. 28—36. 

The souls of the Apostles were oppressed by the 
shadow of the Cross. Yet the dominant note of the 
teaching of Jesus is not sadness, it is joy — not indeed 
the giddy laugh and the empty mirth of men thought- 
less of eternity, but the joy inseparable from the con- 
sciousness of love. Love is the only joy of a reason- 
able life, and the friendship of Jesus is the perfection 
of love. The Apostles were but novices in this school 
of joy, and the prophecy of the Cross hung their souls 
in mourning. Even after so long journeying and 
teaching and communing with the Master, His gentle 
resignation to failure and to death was a bitter 
temptation to them. Hence our Lord vouchsafed to 
them His Transfiguration. 

The departure from the upper waters of the Jordan 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 



3«5 



and the passage across that river 
into Galilee, as well as the time 
spent on the way to Mount Thabor, 
a point some miles eastward from 
Nazareth, are no otherwise chroni- 
cled than by the statement of the 
Evangelists, ' ' that about eight days 
after these words, Jesus took Peter 
and James and John, and leadeth 
them up into a high mountain apart 
by themselves to pray." This must 
have been after a long day's travel, 
for the three Apostles were ' ' heavy 
with sleep." They prayed awhile, 
perhaps reciting together the divine 
poetry of the Psalms, or commun- 
ing with God in silence — and then 
they fell asleep. How Jesus prayed 
meantime, and what happened to 
Him, is thus told in the sacred nar- 
rative : " And whilst He prayed He 
was transfigured before them ; and 
His face did shine as the sun, and 
His garments became shining and 
exceeding white as snow." It was 
as if the beams of light from above 
had become servants of His prayer 
and made the bodily form of Jesus 
as brilliant as His soul : ' ' And 
[awakening out of their sleep] they 
saw His glory, and they beheld two 
men talking with Him. And they 
were Moses and Klias appearing in 
majesty." What was their conversation with Jesus? 
The same sad topic of the Cross. The brightness of 



" HE WAS TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THEM." 

And it, came to pass about eight days 
after these words, that he took Peter and 
James and John, and leadeth them up into 
a high mountain apart by themselves, to 
pray. And whilst he prayed he was trans- 
figured before them ; and his face did shine 
as the sun, and his garments became shining 
and exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller 
on earth can make white. And» behold 
two men were talking with him. And they 
were Moses and Elias, appearing in 
majesty, and they spoke of his decease 
that he should accomplish in Jerusalem. 
But Peter, and they that were with him, 
were heavy with sleep. And waking, they 
saw his glory, and the two men that stood 
with him. And it came to pass that, as they 
were departing from him, Peter saith to 
Jesus : Master, it is good for us to be here, 
and let us make three tabernacles, one for 
Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias, 
not knowing what he said, for they were 
struck with fear. And as he was yet speak- 
ing, behold a bright cloud overshadowed 
them ; and lo ! a voice out of the cloud, say- 
ing : This is My beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased ; hear ye him. And the dis- 
ciples hearing, fell upon their face and 
were very much afraid. And Jesus came 
and touched them and said to them: Arise 
and fear not. And they, lifting up their 
eyes, saw no one but only Jesus. And as 
they came down from the mountain, he 
charged them not to tell any man what 
they had seen till the Son of Man shall 
be risen again from the dead. And they 
held their peace, and told no man in those 
days any of these things which they 
had seen. And they kept the word to 
themselves, questioning together what that 
should mean : When he shall be risen from 
the dead. And his disciples asked him, 
saying : Why then do the Scribes say that 
Elias must come first ? But he answering 
said to them : Elias indeed shall come and 
restore all things. But I say to you, that 
Elias is already come, and they knew him 
not, but have done unto him whatsoever 
they would. So also the Son of Man shall 
suffer from them, and be despised. Then 
the disciples understood that he had spoken 
to them of John the Baptist. 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




And his garments be- 
came white as snow." 



Thabor is one with the awful light of Calvary: "And 
they spoke of His decease that He should accom- 
plish in Jerusalem." The effect of this great vision 
on Peter, James, and John was for a time stupefying, 
and the subsequent impression was the deepest 
reverence for Jesus. Not only did they see their 
Master wonderfully dignified by this heavenly favor, 
but they saw Him joined in familiar company and 
converse with the greatest personages of the old law. 
If the testimony of John the Baptist had been a help 
to Jesus, much rather was this sponsorship of the 
most venerable leaders of the people of God. But 
how much did they overhear of the colloquy on the 
Saviour's death? Enough, we may suppose, to fur- 
nish the Gospel narrative with its brief mention of 
that topic of discourse. Death, indeed — so they must 
have thought — could have little power over Him 
whose human nature they now beheld resplendent 
with the brightness of the Deity which dwelt within 
it, and responsive to the salutation of the Immortal 
Father from above. 

Peter found his voice at last. As the tones of the 
two holy Patriarchs ceased and their bright forms 
began to fade away, Peter longed for some permanent 
reminder of their visit : his confused and dazzled mind 
reverted to the tabernacle in the desert and the Ark 
of the ancient Covenant. Was not this new covenant 
worthy of like honor? So he called out, but with a 
timid voice: "Master, it is good for us to be here, 
and let us make three tabernacles, one for Thee, and 
one for Moses, and one for Klias, not knowing what 
he said, for they were struck with fear." Peter would 
give the Transfiguration an enduring memorial ; he 
would set up a shrine before whose splendor the Temple 
itself would pale into insignificance. And in truth the 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 367 

tables of the law were not so precious as the words 
of loving loyalty uttered here by the two representa- 
tives of the law and the prophets, " as they spoke of 
His decease that He should accomplish in Jerusalem." 
And the words which God spoke to His people in the 
wilderness, what were they but a dim prophecy of 
the divine message now spoken from the luminous 
cloud which gathered above them : ' ' Behold a bright 
cloud overshadowed them; and lo ! a voice out of the 
cloud, saying : This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased; hear ye Him." But Peter's prayer 
was not to be granted, though in his heart and in 
that of every follower of Christ the joy of the Mount 
of Transfiguration was to be prophetical of the greater 
joy of the Mount of Crucifixion. 

For the whole purpose of this vision and of this 
voice from on high was to strengthen the Apostles' 
faith in the promises of a Master doomed to be cruci- 
fied. For although Moses, as the Rabbis taught, had 
died "from the kiss of God," yet he now adored the 
crucified Jesus as his Master; and he adored His pain- 
ful death as the holiest and highest form of departure. 
So, too, Klias discoursed in holy gratulation with 
Jesus about His ' ' decease that He should accomplish 
at Jerusalem," though he himself had been carried 
into the sky in a fiery chariot. The death 
of Jesus was foreshadowed by a bright cloud 
and a voice from heaven, and the appari- 
tion of the greatest men of old, and the 
glorious transfiguration of His mortal body, 
though it was the death of the Cross, pain- 
ful to the last degree, disgraceful, com- 
passed by traitors and apostates and in- 
flicted by murderers and tyrants : it was faster, it is good for us to be 
the happiest and most glorious of deaths here." 




3 6S LIFE OF JESUS CUR Is 7. 

because it was a death of love and of atonement for 
sin. 

"And Jesus came and touched them, and said to 
them : Arise and fear not. And they, lifting up their 
eyes, saw no one but only Jesus." This was the 
end of the vision. As far as its immediate effects 
went, it was intended exclusive^ for these Apostles. 
Therefore as their spirits grew 7 calmer with His gentle 
presence, Jesus, discoursing about His future resurrec- 
tion from death and His permanent transfiguration into 
His spiritualized body, cautioned them not to tell of 
this vision till His resurrection had made the whole 
world the repositor5 r of His secret; though we can 
hardly believe that He meant that their fellow- Apostles 
should not know it. But thej^ were dazed and puzzled, 
and although they "kept the word to themselves, 
they questioned together what that should mean : 
When He shall be risen from the dead ? " They asked 
Him also about the belief in the coming of Elias before 
His own full triumph ; but He recalled His former 
teaching, that Elias had already come in the person 
of John the Baptist ; and as God's enemies had treated 
the Baptist so would they treat the Messias. And it 
was thus that they passed the night together upon 
the mountain. 




" They were struck with fear. 



THE LUNATIC BOY. 



369 




CHAPTER XI/VTI. 

THE LUNATIC BOY. 

Matt. xvii. 14-20; Markix. 13-28; 
Luke ix. 37-44. 

JHE following day, as Jesus came down 
with Peter, James, and John to join the 
rest of the disciples, He found them sur- 
rounded by a great multitude of people, 
and a hot dispute going on between them 
and certain Scribes. Whether it was 
impatience at His long absence during 
the transfiguration, or that His dis- 
ciples had been threatening the people with His 
anger, we know not; we merely know "that all 
the people seeing Jesus were astonished and struck 
with fear, and running they saluted Him, and He 
asked them: What do you question among you?" 
The trouble was the failure of the disciples to deliver 
a boy from the power of the devil who had crazed him, 
and the consequent scoffs and jeers of the Scribes. 
" And behold a man among the crowd, falling down 
on his knees before Him, cried out saying : Master, I 
beseech Thee look upon my son, for he is my only 
one. Lord have pity upon my son, for he is a 
lunatic." The unhappy father then told his sad 
story: "For he falleth often into the fire, and often 
into the water, and lo ! a dumb spirit seizeth him, 
and teareth him. And I desired Thy disciples to 
cast him out, and they could not." 

Here, then, was the difficulty ; the Apostles of Jesus 
were not equal, as yet, to their vocation, nor were the 
people ready to place faith in them : hence the victory of 
the Scribes, their mocking laughter, their scorn and 
disdain. "Then Jesus answered and said : O unbe- 



37o 



LIFE OF VESUS CHRIST. 



I PO PEL1EYE, 



LORD, 
LIEF." 



HELP MY UNBE- 



lieving and perverse generation, how 
long shall I be with you? How long 
shall I suffer you ? ' ' One of the hard- 
est trials of our Saviour was the com- 
pany of His dull followers — must it 
not have been now a yet greater pain 
than usual, since He was fresh from 
the company of Moses and Elias ? 
' ' And Jesus asked his father, How 
long a time is it since this hath hap- 
pened him ? But he said : From his 
infancy. But if Thou canst do any- 
thing, help us, having compassion 
on us." There was an accent of 
doubt in this answer making discord 
in the mind of our Saviour: "If 
Thou canst do ajiy thing." But the 
lack of faith here was palliated by 
the failure of the disciples in the 
case and by the scoffs of the Scribes. 
The question and answer following 
are noble examples of kindly treat- 
ment of a perplexed soul on the one 
hand, and of honest doubt on the 
other. Our Saviour took up the 
doubting word : "If Thou canst, ' ' 
and gave it back with double force : 
"And Jesus saith to them: If thou 
canst believe, all things are possible 
to him that believeth. And immedi- 
ately the father of the boy, crying 
out w r ith tears, said : I do believe, 
Lord, help my unbelief." Many a 
worthy soul can make no other act of 
faith. It is not perfect, but it is enough to begin with. 



And behold a man among the crowd, 
falling down on his knees before him, cried 
out. saying: Master, I beseech thee look 
upon my son, because he is my only one ; 
Lord, have pity up n my son, for he is a 
lunatic, and su'ffereth much ; for he falleth 
often into the fire, and often into the 
water, and lo ! a dumb spirit seizeth him, 
and he suddenly crieth out, and he throweth 
him down, and teareth him, so that he foam- 
eth ; and bruising him, he hardly departeth 
from him. And I desired thy disciples to 
cast him out, and they could not. Then 
Jesus answered and said : O unbelieving 
and perverse generation, how long shall I 
be with you ? How long shall I suffer 
you? Bring him unto me. And they 
brought him. And as he was coming to 
him, and when he had seen him. immedi- 
ately the spirit troubled him, and being 
thrown down upon the ground, he rolled 
about foaming. And he asked his father : 
How long time is it since this hath hap- 
pened unto him ? But he said : From his 
infancy. And oftentimes hath he cast him 
into the fire and into waters to destroy 
him ; but if thou canst do anything, help 
us, having compassion on us. And Jesus 
saith to him : If thou canst believe, all 
things are possible to him that believeth. 
And immediately the father of the boy, cry- 
ing out with tears, said : I do believe, Lord, 
help my unbelief. And when Jesus saw 
the multitude running together, he threat- 
ened the unclean spirit, saying to him : 
Deaf and dumb spirit, I command thee, go 
out of him and enter not any more into 
him. And crying out and greatly tearing 
him, he went out of him, and he became 
as dead, so that many said, He is dead. 
But Jesus taking him by the hand lifted him 
up, and restored him to his father ; and the 
child was cured from that hour. And when 
he was come into the house, then came 
the disciples to Jesus secretly and said : 
Why could not we cast him out ? Jesus 
said to them : Because of your unbelief. 
For amen I say to you, if you have faith as 
a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to 
this mountain : Remove from hence hither, 
and it shall remove, and nothing shall be 
impossible to you. And he said to them : 
This kind can go out by nothing but by 
prayer and fasting. And all were astonish- 
ed at the mighty power of God. 



THE L UNA TIC BO Y. 371 

Meantime the crowd was breathless with expec- 
tancy, and crowded and crushed towards the Master 
as He stood near the weeping father, who was en- 
deavoring to hold down his maniac child. Jesus 
waited till the multitude could fairly see and hear 
what He would do. Then His voice, imperious and 
threatening, was heard: "Deaf and dumb spirit, I 
command thee, go out of him, and enter not any more 
into him. And crying out and greatly tearing him, 
he went out of him, and he became as dead, so that 
many said, He is dead. But Jesus taking him by the 
hand lifted him up, and restored him to his father, 
and the child was cured from that hour." 

And now Jesus, having overcome both the demon 
and the Scribes, had to reckon with His own disciples. 
Their failure was made the more notorious by His easy 
success. The disciples said to Jesus secretly : " Why 
could not we cast him out ? Jesus said to them : Be- 
cause of your unbelief. For Amen I say to you, if 
you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall 
say to this mountain, Remove from hence hither, and 
it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to 
you." The lesson is simple. Faith and power are 
in Christ's Kingdom. But how obtain this faith and 
power? Is it by merely putting additional pressure 
upon one's reasonable adherence to God and His 
teaching ? The answer of Jesus to this implied ques- 
tion (perhaps it was even spoken among the disciples) 
shows the practical side of faith, even miraculous 
faith : "And He said to them, this kind [of demon] 
can go out by nothing but by prayer and fasting." 
Let a man with but a little grain of faith unite him- 
self with God in prayer, and conquer his bodily ap- 
petites by fasting, and he can then conquer devils and 
remove mountains. 



372 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XLVIH. 

THE PASSION AGAIN FORETOLD. — JESUS AND THE 
PAYMENT OF THE TAX. — THE DISPUTE ABOUT 
PRECEDENCE. 

Matt. xvii. 21-26, and xviii. i-j ; Mark ix. 29-jo ; 
Luke ix. 44-jo. 

" And departing from thence they passed through 
Galilee and He would not that any man should know 
it : for He would not walk in Judea because the Jews 
sought to kill Him." They were tarrying, it would 
seem, apart from the common route, withdrawn from 
general contact with the people, when Jesus repeated 
to the Apostles His prediction of His death and resur- 
rection. "And when they abode together in Galilee, 
Jesus said to them : The Son of Man shall be be- 
trayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill 
Him, and the third day He shall rise again. But 
the\- understood not this word, and it was hid from 
them, so that they perceived it not." St. Matthew 
adds that "they were troubled exceedingly concerning 
this word " ; and yet they were afraid to ask for 
further explanation. They wished to take it figura- 
tively, while it was plain fact and was meant to be 
taken as such. We shall see that even to the very 
end they hoped, nay they believed, that it was im- 
possible that this all-powerful wonder-worker would 
allow Himself to be put to death. 

" And when they were come to Capharnaum, they 
that received the didrachmas came to Peter and said 
to him : Doth not your Master pay the didrachma ? 
He said: Yes." This was either the tax of the 
Tetrarch, Herod-Antipas, or, more probably, the an- 
nual contribution fixed by the law of Moses for the 






JESUS AND THE PA YMENT OF THE TAX. 



373 



support of the Temple. Peter entered the house to get 
the money (about thirty cents of our standard) , but was 
anticipated by the Master: " And when he was come 
into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying : What is 
thy opinion, Simon ; the kings of the earth, of whom 
do they receive tribute or custom ? of their own chil- 
dren or of strangers ? And he said : Of strangers. 
Jesus said to him : Then the chil- 
dren are free." There was no 
power on earth which could exact 
tribute from Jesus, or which was not 
bound to pay Him tribute. He was 
greater than the Temple, He was 
Lord of the Herods and the Caesars. 
But Jesus did not come on earth to 
stand upon such rights as these, 
but to save men's souls. Meantime 
He had trouble enough on His hands 
without adding a dispute with tax- 
gatherers. And, finally, to pay 
tribute by working a miracle was to gather tribute in- 
stead of paying it. Hence He not only avoided giving 
scandal to weak souls, but edified them by teaching 
His beautiful union with men as members of the church 
and of the state in the payment of their share for the 
public support. Jesus said to Peter: " But that we 
may not scandalize them, go to the sea and cast in a 
hook, and that fish which shall first come up, take, 
and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt 
find a stater ; take that, and give it to them for Me 
and for thee." We may notice here one of the many 
cases in which the Saviour distinguished Peter from 
his brother Apostles. 

It shows the tender solicitude of our Saviour, that 
He was constantly reading the thoughts of his Apo»~ 



"GIVE IT TO THEM FOR ME AND FOR 
THEE." 

And when they were come to Caphar- 
naum, they that received the didrachmas 
came to Peter and said to him : Doth not 
your Master pay the didrachma ? He said : 
Yes. And when he was come into the 
house, Jesus prevented him, saying: What 
is thy opinion, Simon ? The kings of the 
earth, of whom do they receive tribute or 
custom ? of their own children or of 
strangers ? And he said : Of strangers. 
Jesus said to him : Then the children are 
free. But that we may not scandalize 
them, go to the sea, and cast in a hook, 
and that fish which shall first come up, 
take, and when thou hast opened its 
mouth, thou shalt find a stater ; take that, 
and give it to them for me and for thee. 



374 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



ties, in their faces, or in their very silence. After 
the incident of the didrachtna tax He perceived that 
something was the matter. He suspected that they had 
been disputing hotly. He said : " What did you 
treat of in the way ? But they held their peace, for in 
the way they had disputed among themselves which 
of them should be greater." Restiveness under His 
constant preference for Peter may have caused this 
dispute. It therefore became necessary to show that 
this dignity was official and concerned authority. He 
would plainly indicate that in bestowing office He 
need not always follow the perfection of personal 
virtue. And as a matter of fact, Peter, though the 
highest in the Apostolic order, was not the " disciple 
whom Jesus loved" by preference. 
Meantime personal humility was to 
be cultivated by all, whether in au- 
thority or in subjection to authority. 
The bearer of office should be per- 
sonally as humble as he is official- 
ly exalted, otherwise he is as per- 
sonally unworthy as he is officially 
favored. But let us admire the 
kindly method our Saviour took to 
illustrate this. "And calling unto 
Him a little child, He set him in the 
midst of them, whom when He had 
embraced, He saith to them : Amen 
I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as 
little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom 
of Heaven." As if to say, Why dispute about who 
shall be first in the kingdom before you have found 
out how to enter it ? A life as blameless as this inno- 
cent child's is the key. Simplicity, frankness, love, 
trustfulness, content — these childlike virtues are the 



"WHO IS GREATER IN THE KINGDOM OF 
HEAVEN." 

And when they were in the house, he 
asked them : What did you treat of in 
the way ? But they held their peace, for 
in the way they had disputed among them- 
selves which of them should be greater. 
But Jesus, seeing the thoughts of their 
hearts, sitting down, he called the twelve, 
and said to them : If any man desire to 
be first, he shall be the last of all and the 
minister of all. And Jesus, calling unto 
him a little child, set him in the midst of 
them ; whom when he had embraced, he 
saith to them : Amen I say to you, unless 
you be converted, and become as little 
children, you shall not enter into the 
Kingdom of Heaven. Whosoever, there- 
fore, shall humble himself as this little 
child, he is the greater in the Kingdom 
of Heaven. 



DISP UTE ABOUT PRECEDENCE, 375 

great qualities for citizenship in My Kingdom. Add- 
ed to these qualities are those that make men leaders, 
such as wisdom and prudence and fortitude. But it is 
childlike confidence in God, and a child's trustful love 
of parents and brothers and sisters and friends and 
companions : it is this type of character that is the 
Christian one, whether for subject or for ruler in the 
kingdom. The Kingdom of Heaven is not a barrack 
of soldiers but a household of loving parents and 
children. 

So Jesus taught. As to authority itself, it has its 
representatives in the Kingdom of God whose prero- 
gatives are divine. Jesus had said to His Apostles 
on a previous occasion that whosoever received them 
received Him. That was a right attached to their 
office, and it armed them with a penalty wherewith to 
punish disobedience. He now — and in words very 
similar — enforces that other right which empowers 
them to stand for God, and not them only but all 
others, even the simple and the lowly and the igno- 
rant, all whose personal virtue makes them teachers 
by the strong right of good example, true counsel or 
zealous reproof : ' ' And he that shall receive one such 
little child in My name, receiveth Me. And whoso- 
ever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but Him 
that sent Me." 

Our Saviour's comparison of official dignity with 
personal virtue, even that of childlike innocence and 
simplicity, bears with it a useful lesson, especially to 
such as would make official power the absorbent of all 
other power in religion. The ideal condition is that 
in which authority is vested in persons distinguished 
by private virtue ; these bring to bear in the loving 
exercise of their office the compulsion of personal holi- 
ness. We know that even in dealing with sinners 



376 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



authority should call them to repen- 
tance rather by the free motives of 
love than by the threats of punish- 
ment, reserving the pressure of the 
law for the more obstinate, for whom 
alone it is intended and is necessary. 
And how can love be made compul- 
sory except by one who loves and is 
beloved ? It is the will of Christ, 
says St. Francis de Sales, that we 
should love obedience more than we 
fear disobedience. 

Since the only unitive virtue is 
love, therefore the original, the per- 
petual, the all powerful, the exclu- 
sive means of bringing men into 
friendship with God and keeping 
them there must be love : how then 
can one who does not love hope to 
save souls ? If we yield a place to 
fear, it must be an introductory one, 
the minor orders of that divine priest- 
hood and hierarchy of persuasion 
and conversion and perseverance 
which is conferred upon sanctified 
souls. The official hierarchy of the 
Church's ministry 7 was founded by 
Christ to arm this unofficial hierarchy of personal vir- 
tue with a divine authority in the external order. By 
sacraments and dogmas, indeed, the Church is con- 
stituted ; but sacraments and dogmas generate prayer 
and patience and zeal and ever}- other form of holy 
love, which in turn reacts upon them and makes them 
more fruitful. Happy is the family, and the parish, and 
the religious community, and the diocese in which 




" Unless you become as little children, you 
shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." 



DISPUTE ABO UT PRECEDENCE. yjl 

this rule of Christ prevails, and obedience and love 
are so blended as to be indistinguishably one. 

Jesus enforced a similar principle on occasion of a 
complaint made by St. John. When our Saviour had 
said, " He that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent 
Me," John answered Him saying, " Master, we saw 
one casting out devils in Thy name, who followeth 
not with us, and we forbade him. But Jesus said : 
Do not forbid him. For there is no man that doth a 
miracle in My name and can soon speak ill of Me." 
The man who was casting out devils was probably 
doing so by the regular Rabbinical exorcism, adding, 
however, the invocation of the name of Jesus, in whose 
power he believed ; he was evidently a friend of Jesus, 
for God worked miracles by Him. John's complaint 
was therefore founded on rash judgment, and voiced 
rather the jealousy of an official than the charity and 
zeal of an Apostle. Jesus would say, Let good men 
do good ; if they are not plainly in rebellion against 
My authority they are to be presumed as subject to 
it; "For," He added, "he that is not against you is 
for you." This, of course, applies only in favor of the 
liberty of action of men of good will, for on another 
occasion, and referring to evil-minded men, our Saviour 
says the very contrary. 





378 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XLIX. 

THE SIN OF SCANDAL. — THE GUARDIAN ANGEES. — 
THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE LOST SHEEP. 

Matt, xviii. 6-14; Mark ix. 4.1-49 ; Luke xvii. 1,2. 

EEDOM can one sin totally alone and 
wholly without hurt to his neighbor. The 
most hidden sin is at least sure to dry up 
some fountain of goodness that once flow- 
ed from the sinner's heart upon his kin- 
dred or other associates. The sinner may 
begin in secret, but in time he will be- 
come a cause of scandal. He is a parent 
and infects his children by bad example ; 
he is a master and forces vice upon his servants ; he is 
a ruler and corrupts a whole nation ; he is a journalist 
and destroys his tens of thousands ; he is, alas ! a 
fallen priest and "preaches his sin like Sodom." 

Against the sin of scandal, the supreme guilt of 
causing sin by example, command, suggestion, ridi- 
cule, false kindness, false severity, giving the means of 
sin, or selling them — against all forms of scandal Jesus 
Christ thunders forth His anathema. Especially does 
He arraign those who cause children and youth to sin, 
among whom wicked fathers and mothers are the 
worst; they are indeed the worst sinners in the 
world. 

About all who give scandal Jesus says that the 
sea is not too deep to drown them, nor a mill-stone too 
heavy to sink them to the bottom and keep them there 
for ever. Hell is deeper than the sea and a lost soul is 
a heavier weight around the sinner's neck than a mill- 
stone. The brief but terrible discourse of Jesus upon 
scandal, or sin causing sin, begins with the slaughter 



THE SIN OF SCANDAL. 



379 



"THEIR worm dieth not." 
He that shall scandalize one of these 
little ones that believe in me, it were 
better for him that a mill-stone should be 
hanged about his neck and that he should 
be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe 
to the world because of scandals. For it 
must needs be that scandals come, never- 
theless woe to that man by whom scandal 
cometh. If thy hand scandalize thee, cut 
it off; it is better for thee to enter into 
life maimed, than having two hands to go 
into hell, into unquenchable fire, where 
their worm dieth not, and their fire is not 
extinguished. And if thy foot scandalize 
thee, cut it off ; it is better for thee to 
enter lame into life everlasting, than hav- 
ing two feet to be cast into the hell of un- 
quenchable fire ; where their worm dieth 
not, and their fire is not extinguished. 
And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it 
out ; it is better for thee with one eye to 
enter into the Kingdom of God, than 
having two eyes to be cast into the hell of 
fire, where their worm dieth not, and the 
fire is not extinguished. 



of the innocents by wicked 01 care- 
less parents and others placed in a 
position to injure children: "And 
He said to His disciples : It is im- 
possible that scandals should not 
come, but woe to them by whom 
they come. He that shall scanda- 
lize one of these little ones that be- 
lieve in Me, it were better for him 
that a mill-stone should be hanged 
about his neck and that he should 
be drowned in the depth of the sea." 
Just as you make sure of drowning 
a venomous cur by hanging a weight 
to him, so does a man make sure 
of his own eternal loss by causing 
sin in others. And yet how univer- 
sally do sinners help each other to sin ! Our Saviour 
laments this : " Woe to the world because of scandals. 
For it must needs be that scandals come, nevertheless 
woe to that man by whom scandal cometh." 

It is as if every sin were a moral leprosy so con- 
tagious as to make heroic treatment the only mercy 
possible. Jesus had already in the Sermon on the 
Mount, and in nearly the same words, treated of this 
painful subject : "If thy hand scandalize thee, cut it 
off ; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, 
than having two hands to go into hell, into unquench- 
able fire, where their worm dieth not and their fire is 
not extinguished." Better, that is, to lose one's 
hands here, than to carry them to hell as an ever- 
lasting reproach for the sins they were made to com- 
mit — or one's tongue or heart or eyes. Many a filthy 
whisper or provoking insult is hissed again in hell, 
many a jovial invitation to the social glass is mourn- 



380 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

fully repeated in hell, many a footstep on the way to 
a foul assignation echoes afterwards in hell: "And 
if thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off. And if thy eye 
scandalize thee, pluck it out ; it is better for thee with 
one eye to enter into the Kingdom of God, than hav- 
ing two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire, where 
their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished." 
These are among the most terrible words ever spoken, 
and they are spoken by the gentlest heart that ever 
throbbed with love. Yet this severity is not exces- 
sive. All who have tried saving souls from hell know 
that sin has the power of gluing its votaries to- 
gether, and whatever one is dragged from the mass of 
evil companionship, he can be saved only by a pain- 
ful wrench from that which has grown to be as 
precious to his lower nature as a hand or a foot to 
the human frame. 

Our Saviour then changes, it would seem, from 
the subject of bad example to that of good example, 
and from the fire of hell to the salt of peaceful and 
beneficent love: "For every one shall be salted with 
fire, and every victim shall be salted with salt. Salt 
is good ; but if the salt become unsavory " (that is, if 
bad example takes the place of good example) " where- 
with will you season it ? Have salt in you, and have 
peace among you." 

Before finally leaving the subject of scandal, Jesus 
discoursed upon the relation of the angels to men as 
their attorneys in His Father's court. Even the 
pagans had some knowledge of them. Among the 
fragments of revealed religion which survived the 
general wreck in the Gentile world, was the blessed 
truth that men are guarded by celestial spirits. To 
the Jewish people these heavenly beings were well 
known, for God had always used His angels as mes- 



THE GUARDIAN ANGELS. 381 

sengers to His people and appointed them as their 
protectors. Jesus, as His disciples well knew, was 
often in angelic company. It was therefore natural 
that while speaking of the sin of scandal He should 
take the Guardian Angels into account, whom He de- 
scribes as pleading before God the cause of children 
injured by bad example : ' ' See that you despise not one 
of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels 
in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in 
heaven." This is plain teaching. Carried out in the 
training of children, it gives men from the earliest 
period of life a sense of dignity, a sense of self- value, 
and a sweet consciousness of pure companionship, all 
elements of very great worth in the formation of the 
Christian character. 

Upon which Jesus, as He continues, places Himself 
at the head of these shepherds of the gentle flock of 
God. He is our chief Angel Guardian. And He re- 
peats — nor is it for the last time — the consoling doc- 
trine that His main purpose is not to retain possession 
of those who are already saved, but to save those who 
are lost. "For the Son of Man is come to save that 
which was lost. What think you? If a man have a 
hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray, doth 
he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains, and 
goeth to seek that which is gone astray ? And if it 
so be that he find it, Amen, I say to you he rejoiceth 
more for that than for the ninety- nine that went not 
astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father 
who is in Heaven that one of these little ones should 
perish." How suggestive of love is this beautiful pic- 
ture of the whole flock left to care for itself that one 
single sheep may not perish. But suppose a case in 
which it is the ninety-nine who are lost and only one is 
safe at home ? I,et us ask what is the will of Jesus 



382 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Christ in our own day, when in these northern nations 
there are many communities in which not one in five 
hundred is in the true fold. Study this teaching of our 
Good Shepherd and you will appreciate the missionary 
vocation of the Church at the present time. 




CHAPTER L. 

FRATERNAL CORRECTION. — ' ' IF HE WIEE NOT HEAR 
THE CHURCH." — THE WICKED SERVANT. 

Matt, xviii. 15-35; Luke xvii. 3, 4. 

ORRECTION among brethren is always an affection- 
4> ate admonition as a first resort, and that privately ; 
*£..-■■• then comes the aid of others, men who are good, 
peaceable, and wise. Finally, and only as a last re- 
sort, the infliction of penalties. IyOve is indeed first 
and last ; but in the end it can use authority and in- 
flict penalties with profit. Our Saviour had suffered 
from various dissensions among His followers, and He 
took occasion of His discourse on saving the lost sheep 
to lay down the rules of brotherly admonition. " But 
if thy brother shall offend against thee, go and rebuke 
him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear 
thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. And if he will not 
hear thee, take with thee one or two more, that in the 
mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. 
And if he will not hear them, tell the Church. And 
if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee 
as the heathen and publican." We shall not mistake 
our Lord's words when we say that His meaning is 
this : having loved our obstinate brother as one of 
the household, we must love him no less when his 
disobedience has made him an excommunicate. We 
know how deeply Jesus loved the poor heathen and 



MUST HEAR THE CHURCH. 



383 



publican ; it is to them He compares an incorrigible 
brother Christian. 

The Church is here mentioned by Christ for the 
second time, and in a way to bestow the highest right 
of discipline. He draws a plain line between a volun- 
tary authority, that of brother over brother, and the 
organic right of correction in the whole brotherhood, 
the Church. He follows this up with a grant of 
plenary power, the terms being identical with a part 
of Peter's charter : " Amen, I say to you, whatsoever 
you shall bind upon earth shall be bound also in 
heaven ; and whatsoever }*ou shall loose upon earth 
shall be loosed also in heaven." The Church is 
the brotherhood of the Sons of God. The first duty 
and first right of brothers is brother- 
ly love. When this fails there is re- 
sort to the authority of God in His 
Church to restore it. Power, ma- 
jesty, dignity, unity, every quality 
that inspires respect and claims obe- 
dience is best exercised when associ- 
ated with the ever-deepening influ- 
ences of love — loving exhortation, 
loving exchange of favors, loving 
patience, loving community of goods 
spiritual and temporal ; and some- 
times loving correction — this comes 
last of all indeed, but is occasion- 
ally necessary for the restoration of 
love : thus we have the summary of our Saviour's 
grant of heavenly authority to His earthly household. 

First, then, the private offer of reconciliation, care- 
fully guarding against publicity, nor waiting for the 
culprit to take the first step. Then, in case of failure, 
the kindly aid of others is called in. Last of all the 



HOW THOU SHALT GAIN THY BROTHER. 

If thy brother shall offend against thee, 
go and rebuke him between thee and him 
alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt 
gain thy brother. And if he will not hear 
thee, take with thee one or two more, that 
in the mouth of two or three witnesses 
every word may stand. And if he will not 
hear them, tell the Church. And if he 
will not hear the Church, let him be to 
thee as the heathen and publican. Amen, 
I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind 
upon earth shall be bound also in heaven ; 
and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, 
shall be loosed also in heaven. Again I 
say to you, that if two of you shall consent 
upon earth concerning anything, whatso- 
ever they shall ask it shall be done to 
them by my Father who is in heaven. For 
where two or three are gathered together 
in my name, there am I in the midst of 
them. 



384 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



strong arm of Church law : — but even after that the 
poor sinner is ever welcome to return, ever solicited to 
do so. And it is exactly upon this line that Christ's 
Chuich has always inflicted her censures. The object 
is to ' ' gain the brother ' ' even more than to free the 
brotherhood from his scandal. Jesus adds common 
pra3^er, a practice very pleasing to His Father, as an 
incentive to brotherly union in the 
divine household on earth. "Again 
I say to you, that if two of you shall 
consent upon earth concerning any- 
thing, whatsoever they shall ask it 
shall be done to them by My Father 
who is in Heaven. For where two 
or three are gathered together in 
My name, there am I in the midst 
of them.*' 

The reader knows how stern a 
law of penance for sin was enforced 
among the early Christians. Every 
heinous offence had its public pen- 
alty, its long, and sometimes years 
long, punishment, suffered openly 
among the faithful. This discipline 
was a vital necessity in those days, 
when the Church was surrounded 
by filthy paganism. Yet let us mark 
this : that the outside world did not 
then say of the Church, How sternly 
these Christians enforce discipline ; 
but rather, How these Christians 
love one another. Not Church discipline but brotherly 
love was the characteristic trait of Christianity even 
in its era of strictest discipline. 

Peter would have our Saviour explain more fully 



THE KING AND THE WICKED SERVANT. 

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven 
likened to a king, who would take an ac- 
count of his servants. And when he had 
begun to take the account, one was brought 
to him that owed him ten thousand talents. 
And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his 
lord commanded that he should be sold, 
and his wife and children, and all that he 
had, and payment to be made. But that 
servant falling down, besought him, say- 
ing : Have patience with me, and I will 
pay thee all. And the lord of that servant 
being moved with pity, let him go and for- 
gave him the debt. But when that servant 
was gone out, he found one of his fellow- 
servants that owed him an hundred pence : 
and laying hold of him, he throttled him, 
saying : Bay what thou owest. And his 
fellow-servant, falling down, besought 
him, saying : Have patience with me, and 
I will pay thee all. And he would not : 
but went and cast him into prison, till he 
paid the debt. Now his fellow servants 
seeing what was done, were very much 
grieved, and they came and told their lord 
all that was done. Then his lord called 
him: and said to him: Thou wicked ser- 
vant, I forgave thee all the debt, because 
thou besoughtest me : Shouldst not thou 
then have had compassion also on thy 
fellow-servant, even as I had compassion on 
thee ? And his lord being angry, deliver- 
ed him to the torturers until he paid all 
the debt. So also shall my heavenly 
Father do to you, if you forgive not every 
one his brother from your hearts. 



FAREWELL TO GALILEE. 385 

the duty of brotherly forgiveness : " Lord, how often 
shall my brother offend against me, and I forgive 
him ? till seven times ? ' ' Now the Jewish casuists had 
twisted some Scripture texts so as to limit forgive- 
ness to three times ; therefore Peter fancied he was 
extremely generous in extending it to seven. But the 
Master threw down all limits to brotherly love : 
" Jesus saith to him, I say not to thee, till seven times, 
but till seventy times seven times." And upon this 
He gave them the very ' instructive parable of the 
King and his Wicked Servant. The Apostles could 
easily see the gradation of guilt according to Jesus : 
if the king punished the common sins of human malice 
with slavery, he punished unforgiveness of injuries 
with slavery and torture. 



CHAPTER LI. 

FAREWELL TO GALILEE. — " WOE TO THEE, CORO- 
ZAIN ! " 

Matt. xi. 20-24 ; Luke x. 13-15 ; John vii. 1-10. 

A crisis had been reached in Galilee. The 
Saviour had battled bravely with His enemies, and 
He had always conquered. But what He gained by 
the majesty of His manner, the sweetness of His re- 
ligious teaching, the irresistible power of His miracles, 
He to a great extent lost by the intrigues of His 
enemies. They were expecting, and determined to 
expect, no other Kingdom of God but the restoration 
of the temporal independence of their race. Race 
pride is a stubborn foe, and in this case it was allied 
to the pride of self-righteousness. Though the Gali- 
leans as a body were true to Him, most of the 
leaders of the people were not. They were set with 
fanatical frenzy upon their outward observances — a 



3 86 



"WOE TO THEE, COROZAIN !" 

Woe to thee, Bethsaida ! for if in Tyre 
and Sidon had been wrought the miracles 
that have been wrought in you, they had 
long ago done penance in sackcloth and 
ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more 
tolerable for Tyre and :=>idon in the Day of 
Judgment than for you. And thou, Ca- 
pharnaum, which art exalted unto heaven ; 
shalt thou be exalted up to heaven ? thou 
shalt go down even unto hell. For if in 
Sodom had been wrought the miracles that 
have been wrought in thee, perhaps it had 
remained unto this day. But I say unto 
you that it shall be more tolerable for the 
land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment 
than for thee. 



/**r 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

gross exaggeration of the law of 
Moses. Jesus came among the peo- 
ple and swept away everything these 
leaders loved. His kingdom meant 
the extinction of the Jewish national 
aspirations, meant a new law en- 
tirely superseding the Temple and 
the whole law of Moses. He added 
new rules of conduct so gentle as to 
dampen the warlike ardor of every 
Jewish soul that believed in Him. 
With regard to outward observances, 
He had plainly foretold Baptism and the Eucharist, and 
implied some others which He w 7 ould finally institute, 
but these were only outward signs communicating an 
inward presence, a presence so spiritual as to w T holly 
confuse and offend a class of men sodden with exter- 
nalism. 

The time was hot for an outbreak against Him in 
Capharnaum or its neighborhood. Even some of the 
cousins of Jesus (called His brothers) doubted of 
Him, or at least of His prudence. And so He de- 
termined to go up to Jerusalem about the feast of 
Tabernacles, and there and in that neighborhood to 
make ready for His end. This too was in accordance 

with the advice of 
these near relatives : 
" Now the Jews' 
feast of Tabernacles 
was at hand. And 
His brethren said to 
Him : Pass from 
hence, and go into 
Judea, that Thy dis- 
ciples also ma} 7 see 




ANCIENT DESERT LIFE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. 



' 



FAREWELL TO GALILEE. 



387 




u It was held towards the end of our month of September," 



Thy works which Thou 
dost. For there is no 
man that doth anything 
in secret, and he him- 
self seeketh to be known 
openly. If Thou do : 
these things, manifest 
Thyself to the world. 
For neither did His 
brethren believe in 
Him." " My time is 
not yet come," replied 
our Saviour, and He 
urged them to greater 
firmness and energy : 
"But your time is always ready." He declined, 
however, to go to Jerusalem in their company, con- 
cealing from them the exact day of His departure. 
' ' Go you up to this festival-day ; but I go not up to 
this festival-day, because My time is not accomplished. 
But after His brethren were gone up, then He also went 
up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret." 

The feast of Tabernacles was a beautiful memorial 
of the ancient desert life of the children of Israel. 
It was held towards the end of our month of Septem- 
ber, all the harvest work being over and the people at 
rest. It lasted a week, during which the Jewish 
families left their houses and dwelt in tents or in 
booths made of green branches, devoutly praying and 
singing joyful hymns and psalms. Of course its 
most splendid celebration was in the holy city, whither 
great numbers of the country people flocked to 
participate in the solemnities. 

We have seen that our Saviour would not allow 
the eagerness of His relatives to forestall His purposes 




3 88 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

and thus precipitate an open conflict. The Galileans, 
if He went openly to Jerusalem, might give Him a 
triumph and provoke His death. The Pharisees and 
Herodians might embroil His followers in a tumult 
and involve them in a general massacre by the Roman 
soldiers: — the jealousy of Rome 
might be aroused. " My time is not 
yet come," insisted the Master. It 
was not lack of courage but fulness 
of wisdom that guided Him. The 
a primitive plough. same quality would allow the dis- 

ciples to labor for Him, to spread the glad tidings, to 
exercise their miraculous gifts. " The world cannot 
hate you," He said, "but Me it hateth, because I 
give testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil." 
After His relatives had gone, Jesus, retaining His 
Apostles with Him, spent a few days quietly bidding 
farewell to Galilee, the country of His childhood and 
hidden life and the scene of His chief activity since 
His public life began. 

Farewell now to the blue waters and the bright 
sky of Genesareth. Many happy hours of such plain- 
tive happiness as our Man of Sorrows could enjoy had 
He spent about its shores, wafted over its waves, and 
in the adjacent towns, villages, and country places. 
Farewell to it all, and to that upright people the 
Galileans, not always apt to understand Him, but 
ever willing to do so, ever frank and brave. Galilee is 
hereafter the most renowmed of earth's dwelling-places, 
for He who wakes the soul of man from death to 
life shall be called the Galilean ; and those mightiest 
conquerors of the human mind, the Apostles of Christ, 
shall be known as the Galileans. How tenderly must 
not Jesus have w T aved His farew r ell and spoken His last 
adieu, doubtless with tearful eyes, as He mingled, He 






FAREWELL TO GALILEE. 



389 



and His few companions, with the stream of the later 
pilgrims going to the Holy City for the feast of 
Tabernacles ! 

But not alone in gentle leave-taking was the spirit 
j of Jesus absorbed. Justice has its rights, and our 
! Saviour was compelled to satisfy justice in denouncing 
the communities which had rejected Him, that Jewish 
j Messias whom the very heathen would one day receive 
I with loving welcome : ' ( Then began He to upbraid 
I the cities wherein were done the most of His miracles, 
for that they had not done penance." It was their 
j love of vice — lust and drunkenness and pride and sloth 
— that had blinded them. They were impenitent sin- 
ners and hence they rejected Him. 




390 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER IvII. 



THE JOURNEY FROM GALILEE TO JERUSALEM. — 
"FIRE FROM HEAVEN." — "THE SON OF MAN 
HATH NOT WHERE TO LAY HIS HEAD." — " LET 
THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD." — "LOOKING 
BACK." 

Matt. viii. 19-22 ; Luke ix. 51-62. 

The longest but safest road from Galilee to Jeru- 
salem, as we have seen, was that through the Perea, 
east of the Jordan. But that fact made it also the 
most crowded. Our Saviour, whose purpose was 
secrecy and swiftness, because starting late He yet 
desired to reach Jerusalem before the end of the so- 
lemnities, chose to take the unsafe but shorter route 
through hostile Samaria. As might 
be expected, His little party met 
with difficulties. But He hurried 
on, having " steadfastly set His face 
to go to Jerusalem." It was be- 
cause "the days of His assumption 
[or of His death, and ascension into 
heaven] were accomplished, ' ' or were 
drawing near. 

It happened one day that the dis- 
ciples who went in advance, James 
and John, the Sons of Thunder, 
having entered a certain Samaritan 
city to prepare lodging and food for 
the Saviour, were expelled by the 
towns-people because they were 
Jews and were going to Jerusalem. 
" Lord," said they as they came 
back, " wilt Thou that we command 



JESUS AS NOVICE-MASTER. 

And he sent messengers before his face ; 
and going, they entered into a city of 
the Samaritans to prepare for him. And 
they received him not, because hio face was 
of one going to Jerusalem. And when his 
disciples James and John had seen this 
they said : Lord, wilt thou that we com- 
mand fire to come down from heaven and 
consume them ? And turning he rebuked 
them, saying : You know not of what spirit 
you are. The Son of Man came not to de- 
stroy souls but to save. And they went 
unto another town. And it came to pass 
as they walked in the way that a certain 
man said to him : I will follow thee 
whithersoever thou goest. Jesus said to 
him : The foxes have holes, and the birds 
of the air nests, but the Son of Man hath 
not where to lay his head. But he said 
to another: Follow me. And he said: 
Lord, suffer me first to go and to bury my 
father. And Jesus said to him : Let the 
dead bury their dead, but go thou and 
preach the Kingdom of God. And an- 
other said : I will fallow thee, Lord, but 
let me first take leave of them that are at 
my house. Jesus said to him : No man 
putting his hand to the plough and looking 
back is fit for the Kingdom of God. 



fire to comedown from heaven and consume them?" 




JOURNEY FROM GALILEE TO JERUSALEM. 391 

thus recalling the terrible act of Elias in thus punishing 

God's enemies. "And He, turning, rebuked them, 

saying, You 

know not of 

what spirit 

you are. The 

Son of Man 

came not to 

destroy souls 

but to save." 

The Apostles 

thought that 

to overcome 

sin the best 

weapon was 

fire ; Jesus 

preferred "The unsafe but shorter route through hostile Samaria." 

love. It was much out of place to resort to the methods 
of Elias in the presence of the Lamb of God. Rarely 
would He have us use the awful penalties of divine 
wrath, though, as in after times in the case of Ananias 
and Sapphira, they were sometimes to be invoked by 
His disciples. 

As they journeyed on, "A certain man said to 
Him: I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest." 
A brave heart no doubt, and worthy of being one of 
our Lord's Poor Men. He gave him no stinted voca- 
tion in His answer: "Jesus said to him: The foxes 
have holes, and the birds of the air nests, but the 
Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." No 
wonder, then, that in our Saviour's Church the Chris- 
tian name of the poor man's estate is Holy Poverty. 

A less willing disciple, and yet one more directly 
called, was soon met with: "Jesus said to another: 
Follow Me. And he said : Lord, suffer me first to go 



392 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



" No mi 

looking 



and bury my father. And Jesus said to him : Let the 
dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the 
Kingdom of God." Death shall not outrank life. 
Even the loving care of a father's corpse may give 
place to the preaching of that word which raises dead 
souls to everlasting life. Again, to wash the corpse 
would have made this young man legally unclean for 
seven days, and by that time Jesus would have been 
far away in Jerusalem — or perhaps the neophyte's 
fervor would be withered up amid the cares and afflic- 
tions of his bereaved family. <c Follow Me," said 
Jesus; "let the dead bury their dead." 

Another lesson of the divine novice-master : A 
third follower, won by the power 
of Jesus and by His loving kind- 
ness, but not yet cut loose from 
family ties, said : "I will follow 
Thee, Lord, but let me first take 
my leave of them that are at my 
house. Jesus said to him : No 
man putting his hand to the 
plough and looking back is fit 
for the Kingdom of God." Jesus 
gives all, He strictly exacts all in 
return. No doubt there is place 
for puny spirits in the Kingdom 
of God, but only because they may creep along in the 
shadow of the heroes who are its characteristic citi- 
zens. To hold the plough, as it breaks its way through 
the rough clods and matted weeds, a man must at- 
tend to his work and watch his beasts and lay his 
course ; he must be vigilant and active, and not waste 
and worry his soul with other things than ploughing. 
It is thus must eye and hand and heart and mind be 
devoted to God's work when once it is entered on. 




in putting his hand to the plough and 
back is fit for the kingdom of God." 







JESUS IAT JERUSALEM. 393 

CHAPTER UII. 

JESUS IN JERUSALEM AT THE FEAST OF TABER- 
NACLES. — HE TEACHES HIS DIVINE MISSION. 

John viz. 11 -j6. 

PON arriving in the city, Jesus immedi- 
ately began to teach His divine mission. 
How astonishing it is that what was 
directly offered in denial of this claim 
was, first, that nobody knew of His hav- 
ing studied among the doctors of the 
law ; second, that He had healed on the 
Sabbath day ; and third, that He came 
from Galilee : trifles on one side against 
a mountain of evidence on another. 

The city was filled with pilgrims from every part 
of Palestine and many from distant lands ; its streets 
were traversed by processions of men bearing their 
green branches, and every available space was covered 
with the booths of those who were camping out in 
commemoration of their ancestors' sojourn in the 
wilderness. All this gave our Lord a very different 
auditory from Galilee with its assemblages of simple 
peasants. But Jesus of Nazareth had been a topic 
of discussion before His arrival. " The Jews therefore 
sought Him on the festival-day, and said : Where is 
He ? And there was much murmuring among the 
multitude concerning Him. For some said : He is a 
good man. And others said : No, but He seduceth 
the people. Yet no man spoke openly of Him for fear 
of the Jews. Now about the midst of the feast Jesus 
went up into the Temple and taught." 

When He appeared thus openly his enemies were 
ready for Him, and at once questioned, not His author- 



394 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

ity, nor His ability, nor His holiness, nor His miracles, 
nor the soundness of His doctrine, but, as we would 
say nowadays, His college diploma: "And the Jews 
wondered, saying : How doth this ' man know letters 
having never learned. Jesus answered them and 
said : My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent 
Me." And then this familiar test is offered by our 
Saviour — a guileless servant of God will be able to 
know how to judge the truth when he hears it. 
"If any man will do the will [of My Father], he 
shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or 
whether I speak of Myself." There is a kinship be- 
tween a true man and a true doctrine, for it answers 
his heart's longings, it elevates his better nature into 
control of the lower nature, it looks true and sounds 
right, it wears well as, in course of time, intelligence 
and will act upon it. Conscience responds to true 
rules of morality, and reason adores sound principles. 
Now, every word that Jesus had taught was a revela- 
tion of truth as plain as day ; or if involved in mys- 
tery, even then a promise of inestimable favor from 
God. In all this He had steadfastly spoken for His 
Father. Jesus tells them so, and accuses them of dis- 
obedience to the Father by their neglect of the law 
of Moses: " He that speaketh of himself seeketh his 
own glory ; but he that seeketh the glory of him that 
sent him, he is true, and there is no injustice in him. 
Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you 
keepeth the law ? Why seek you to kill Me ? The 
multitude answered and said : Thou hast a devil. 
Who seeketh to kill Thee ? Jesus answered and said 
to them : One work I have done, and you all wonder. 
Therefore Moses gave you circumcision (not because 
it is of Moses, but of the fathers) ; and on the Sab- 
bath-day you circumcise a man." This referred to 



HE TEACHES HIS DIVINE MISSION. 



395 



the miracle wrought on the Sabbath during His 
previous visit to Jerusalem. 

They wished to kill Him for a Sabbath-breaker. 
He recalled that they performed circumcision on the 
Sabbath-day if necessary to keep the interval of eight 
days from birth prescribed by the law. "If a man 
receive circumcision on the Sabbath-day," reasoned 
our Saviour, "that the law of Moses may not be 
broken, are you angry with Me because I have healed 
the whole man on the Sabbath-day ? ' ' He added an 
appeal to good sense as well as equity : ' ' Judge not 
according to the appearance but judge just judg- 
ment." 

These exchanges between the Messias and His 
enemies fixed the attention of some groups of men 
who had heard of Him only by a vague rumor of 
the purpose to put Him to death. They said : J 
' ' Is not this He whom they seek to kill ? And 
behold He speaketh openly and they say nothing 
to Him." From the absence of the leading Phar- 
isees in the previous discussions they said, perhaps 
ironically, "Have the rulers known for a truth 
that this is the Christ." And they added their 
own blinded delusion : ( ' But we know this man 
whence He is ; but when the Christ cometh no man 
knoweth whence He is." 

They had not long to wait for the enemy to take 
the field openly. While Jesus was answering this 
difficulty spies and emissaries were about Him. H 
explained that he was fully known by His well-proved 
office of a prophet, a teacher, a wonder-worker sent by 
God; by His relatives and Apostles, and even by 
the instinctive hatred of His enemies : ' ' Jesus there- 
fore cried out in the Temple, teaching and saying : 
You both know Me and you know whence I am, and 




PRIMITIVE WINE-PRESS. 



39^ LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is 
true, whom you know not. I know Him because I 
am from Him, and He hath sent Me." Just as surely 
as God has made man to know the truth, so surely 
does He make it easy for man to recognize a truth- 
teacher. Jesus was pre-eminently such, and as He 
continually referred to His Father as the source of 
His authority, His enemies must do violence to their 
own instincts as men and as Israelites in order to 
resist Him. Do violence, indeed ; and hence they raged 
the more against Him : ' ' They sought therefore to 
apprehend Him, and no man laid hands on Him, be- 
cause His hour was not yet come." 

The mystery of the rejection of Christ's teaching is 
therefore only the ancient mystery of human pride. 
But He was not rejected by the whole people, nor by 
anything but a minority ; this included, however, the 
bulk of the official leaders of the people. And we 
must know that if the Jewish race by its representa- 
tives did reject Him, the entire human race, to which 
He was sent, has received Him. The leaders of the 
Jews were appointed by God to stand for all mankind ; 
their most grievous error was the delusion that they 
were exclusively concerned with their own people. 
The apostasy of the Jewish priesthood has been re- 
pudiated by the nations of the world. And it was 
repudiated by multitudes of the Hebrew people them- 
selves : "But of the people many believed in Him, 
and said : When the Christ cometh, shall He do more 
miracles than these which this Man doth ? " In truth 
the Apostles and disciples of Christ, all Jews, became 
a new priesthood and a higher one, and formed a 
new Israel, and carried the Jewish name to an im- 
perial dominion as wide as the universe, and all the 
more glorious because its monarch, Jesus the Jew, 






JESl/S OFFERS THE WA TERS OF LIFE. 397 

conquers by love instead of by fear, by peace instead 
of by war. 

That the Gentiles should come into the divine house- 
hold was never far from the thoughts of the Master's 
followers. So that when He rebuked and hindered by 
His mere words and His glance the spies who had 
been sent to apprehend Him, what He said was readi- 
ly turned by His hearers that way : ' ' The Pharisees 
heard the people murmuring these things concerning 
Him, and the rulers and Pharisees sent ministers to 
apprehend Him. Jesus therefore said to them : Yet a 
little while I am with you, and 
then I go to Him that sent Me. 
You shall seek Me and shall 
not find Me, and where I am, 
thither you cannot come. The 
Jews therefore said amongst 
themselves : Whither will He 
go that we shall not find Him ? 
Will He go unto the dispersed 
among the Gentiles, and teach 
the Gentiles? What is this say- *■»■ 

ing that He hath said : You 

« They sought to apprehend him." 

shall seek Me and shall not find 

Me, and where I am you cannot come ? ' ' 




CHAPTER LIV. 

JESUS OFFERS THE WATERS OF LIFE. — THE ATTEMPT 
TO APPREHEND HIM IN THE TEMPLE. 
John vii. 37-53. 
The last day of the Feast of Tabernacles was the 
most solemn and was called its great day. The 
Temple was the centre of a countless throng, palpi- 
tating with Oriental religious fervor. Jesus took ad- 




A BOOTH OF BRANCHES 



398 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

vantage of this. Making His way to a conspicuous 
point on the wide stairways, and so commanding a 
vast multitude. He proclaimed Himself the fountain 
of all divine truth. Surely none but God could truth- 
fully utter His words, referring as they did to the 
prophecy of Isaias (Iv. 1) : ''Ho all ye that thirst, 
come to the fountains." Jesus " stood and cried, say- 
ing : If any thirst, let him come to Me and drink. 
He that believeth in Me. as the Scripture saith, Out 
of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." 
This was clearly a claim of identity with truth, 
but it had a deeper meaning, one as yet hid- 
den. The Evangelist adds: "Now this He 
said of the Spirit which they should receive 
who believed in Him, for as yet the Spirit was 
not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." 
Long after this St. Paul said of the rock from which 
the people drank in the wilderness, that it was Christ. 
Moses smote the rock and abundant waters flowed 
forth to save people dying of thirst. The dispensation 
which Moses represented had again struck the rock. 
The lips of Christ, touched by the prophetic fulness 
of time, are opened, and out springs the water of life, 
the Word of God, upon whose cleansing and refresh- 
ing streams the Holy Spirit broods, impregnating it 
with divine force. And how well has this promise 
of life been fulfilled. Even* believer in Christ has 
been an irrigating channel in the field of the world. 
Souls as dry as the desert's sand have bloomed with 
fertility as they learned of Christ from parents, priests, 
or friends. Souls that once had Christ and gave Him 
up and were dead to Him, have come to life again by 
the word of Christ calling them to penance. If we 
can know what human life is and what adds a new 
life to it, we know that the teaching of Christ is a new 



THE A T7EMPT TO APPREHEND HIM. 



399 



birth by absolution for sin and personal union with 
the Deity. 

The effect of this proclamation of the Saviour 
(which is given by St. John only in abridgment) was, 
as usual, the immediate division of the multitude : 
"Of that multitude, therefore, when they had heard 
these words of His, some said : This is the Prophet 
indeed. Others said : This is the Christ. But some 
said : Doth the Christ come out of Galilee ? Doth 
not the Scripture say that Christ cometh of the seed 
of David, and from Bethlehem, the town where David 
was ? So there arose a dissension among the people 
because of Him. And some of them would have 
apprehended Him, but no man laid hands upon 
Him." 

And why did not the emissaries of the Pharisees 
seize Him? The Evangelist gives us the reason. 
He transfers the scene from the teeming masses of 
worshippers to a secret meeting of the conspirators : 
the spies of the enemy had themselves felt the spell of 
Jesus : ' ' The ministers there- 
fore came to the chief priests 
and the Pharisees. And they 
said to them : Why have you 
not brought Him ? The min- 
isters answered : Never did 
man speak like this man. 
The Pharisees therefore an- 
swered them : Are you also 
seduced ? Hath any one of 
the rulers believed in Him, 
or of the Pharisees ? But 
this multitude that knoweth 
not the law are accursed." 

Now it happened that mount olivet. 




400 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

among "the rulers" present at this conference was 
Nicoaernus, "he that came to Him by night" ; and 
perhaps there were a few others like-minded, timid 
souls, but not disloyal to Jesus ; not open-day fol- 
lowers of Christ, but yet adherents under cover of 
darkness. Nicodemus said: "Doth our law judge 
any man unless it first hear him and know what 
he doth?" The answer was a shameless evasion of 
the question. Nicodemus insisted that Christ should 
not be condemned without a trial, a right given both 
by the law of Moses and the universal law of fair 
dealing. The answ T er was, " Art thou also a Galilean ? 
Search the Scriptures, and see that out of Galilee 
a prophet riseth not?" Search you your motives, 
Nicodemus might have answered, and see that you 
are athirst for this Man's blood because He will not 
bow down to your ambition, nor conform Himself 
to your man-made observances. Nicodemus, however, 
had done all he was able to do. For a timid man it 
was heroism to rise up among these arrogant and 
foaming Pharisees and make a plea even for fair 
play. He might have accepted the challenge of- 
Scripture dispute about Galilee, for Isaias (ix. i) 
was on his side, and Jonas, Nahum, Osee, and perhaps 
even Elias, might be claimed for Galilee. 

"And every man returned to his own house ; and 
Jesus went unto Mount Olivet." As the crowds dis- 
persed Jesus went to Mount Olivet, there to pass the 
night in the leafy shelter of the booth of some one 
of his friends. Olivet from this time forward became 
a place of prayer and of private conference for the 
Saviour, close to the city as it was, and covered 
with the wide-spreading branches of an olive grove. 



THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY. 



401 



CHAPTER LV. 



THK WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY. 
John viii. 1- u. 

After His night's rest and prayer at Mount Olivet, 
Jesus came early in the morning again to the Temple, 
' ' and all the people came to Him ; and sitting down 
He taught them." His enemies soon interrupted His 
teaching, having seized an opportunity to ensnare 
Him. During the relaxations of the feast a miserable 
woman had been taken in adultery, 
brought before the priests and ac- 
cused. They saw their good fortune 
in this poor wretch's crime. They 
determined to bring her publicly be- 
fore Jesus and force an alternative 
upon Him. He must condemn her 
to be stoned to death according to 
the law of Moses, or He must let 
her go free, and so decide against 
the law. They knew His pity for 
sinners ; it was a powerful element 
of His popularity ; they hoped it 
would betray Him into public con- 
tradiction of Moses. 

The penalty of death for adultery 
had long fallen into disuse. The 
Pharisees had not revived it, with all their strict ob- 
servance. They hoped to compel the kind-hearted 
Saviour to this odious act, or involve Him in down- 
right opposition to the fundamental law. little did 
they dream that the simplicity of a kindly heart can 
outwit the craft of a hateful one. 

Forward they came, dragging the culprit with 



JESUS WRITES UPON THE GROUND. 

And the Scribes ?nd Pharisees bring 
unto him a woman taken in adultery, and 
they set her in the midst, and said to him : 
Master, this woman was even now taken 
in adultery. Now Moses in the law com- 
manded us to stone such a one. But what 
sayest thou ? And this they said tempt- 
ing him, that they might accuse him. But 
Jesus, bowing himself down, wrote with 
his finger on the ground. When therefore 
they continued asking him, he lifted up 
himself and said to them : He that is with- 
out sin among you, let him first cast a 
stone at her. And again stooping down 
he wrote on the ground. But they hearing 
this went out one by one, beginning at the 
eldest. And Jesus alone remained and the 
woman standing in the midst. Then Jesus 
lifting up himself, said to her: Woman, 
where are they that accused thee ? Hath 
no man condemned thee ? Who said : No 
man, Lord. And Jesus said : Neither will 
I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no 
more. 



402 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



H Again stooping down he wrote 
upon the ground." 



them, their followers instructed, we may well suppose, 
that if Jesus defied Moses they should immediately 
arouse the mob and apprehend Him, perhaps put Him 
to death on the spot. They fling the unhappy woman 
at His feet, and amid breathless interest they cry : 
" Master, this woman was even now taken in adultery. 
Now Moses in the law commanded us to stone such 
a one. But what sayest Thou?" How could the 
most pure Son of the Virgin even look at such a dis- 
gusting object as this woman ? He had made the 
law of Moses Himself; and who hated adultery as 
Jesus did ? The combined aversion of all these Phari- 
sees, yes, and of all other human beings together, for 
this degrading crime, was as nothing to the supreme 
and eternal hatred of the Son of God. It is His wrath 
against sin that kindles the unquenchable 
fire of hell. But His compassion for sin- 
ners shuts the door of hell and keeps it 
shut till final impenitence forces it open. 
He did look upon the poor wretch ; He 
did turn His kind glances towards her, 
piercing her soul with a sense of -sorrow 
which quickly replaced the frantic ter- 
ror which had before pos- 
sessed her. But He must 
give an answer. what 
could He say ? He looked 
at the hard, cynical faces 
of the woman's enemies, His enemies. 
What should He say? Should He ex- 
claim, Take her away and kill her? 

He seemed to hesitate, but this was 
only for the purpose of making the weight 
of His rebuke all the more crushing when 
it came: "But Jesus, bowing Himself 





I 



i 









: 



THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY. 



403 



down, wrote with His finger on the ground." 
What did He write ? This is the only time 
in His whole history that He is known to 
have written a word. Perhaps He wrote 
this : " The mercies of the I^ord I will sing 
for evermore" (Ps. lxxxviii.) But there 
they stood, ravening for the woman's blood 
with which to spatter His fame for kindness 
of heart ; or they insisted that He should 
be driven into rebellion against the law of 
Moses and so on to His own ruin. They 
clamored for an answer as hounds yelp when 
they see their prey staggering with exhaus- 
tion. But in a moment they were baffled 
by a most unexpected answer: "When 
therefore they continued asking Him, He 
lifted up Himself and said to them : He 
that is without sin among you, let him 
first cast a stone at her." The law must be observed 
(as if to say), but let all be done rightly. Its 
provisions forbid one criminal to prosecute another. 
L,et the innocent accusers stand forth. And His eye, 
changing its pitying glances, but now given to the 
adulterous woman, blazed with anger upon her ac- 
cusers. It was the eye of the Sovereign Judge search- 
ing and revealing the hidden wickedness of their 
hearts. Then, as if this word of His and His look 
were able to do the rest, " Again stooping down 
He wrote on the ground." 

The battle was won. The accusers dreaded that 
when He rose upon them a second time He would 
reveal their secret sins, and not by mere looks but 
by words of fiery truth. The older ones slipped away 
and disappeared in the encircling multitude — hoary- 
headed villains, reeking with foul vice, hardened and 




" Moses commanded us to stone- 
such a one." 



404 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

irredeemable sinners. Then the others: "But they 
hearing this went out one by one, beginning at the 
eldest. And Jesus alone remained and the woman 
standing in the midst." 

What a singular spectacle — Jesus standing alone 
with the adulteress in sight of the people ! This repre- 
sents His position towards our poor fallen race, pitiful, 
hating no one but our haters, glad to save us public- 
ly and privately, not ashamed to be our advocate in 
our deepest guilt, craving no victory except to win 
us from our evil ways. There stood that unclean 
thing, her face purpled with shame, her form bent 
and trembling with her agony, but a little thrill of 
hope and a strong wave of thankfulness in her soul. 
No Roman conqueror ever rode in triumph up to 
the Capitol, followed by his captive kings and his 
rich booty, with half the joy with which Jesus Christ 
looked upon this woman, the spoils of His battle w r ith 
His enemies and hers. What tender music was in His 
voice as He said to her: "Woman, where are they 
that accused thee? Hath no man condemned thee? 
Who said: No man, Lord. And Jesus said : Neither 
will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more." 

It is a curious fact that this touching incident 
is omitted from many early versions of the Gospels. 
St. Augustine and St. Ambrose attribute this to the 
overcareful prudence of some of the Eastern churches, 
which feared that the laxity of morals in the Orient 
might misuse this lesson of divine compassion : a 
singular misunderstanding of God's ways, and an 
equally singular mistrust of the latent nobility of 
human nature even when degraded by sin. 



JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, 405 

CHAPTER LVI. 

jesus the; light of the; world. 

John viii. 12-19. 

The most gorgeous spectacle of the Feast of Taber- 
nacles was the illumination of the western side of 
the Temple. Two high towers were covered with 
lights which flashed brilliantly across that slope of 
the city, every house hanging out its responsive 
lamps. Jesus on His return from Olivet in the early 
hours of the day following had gone into the court 
of the treasury, not far from the meeting- room of 
the Sanhedrin, the fading lanterns showing in sad 
contrast with the bright morning sunshine. 

After the sudden and startling incident of the 
adulterous woman, Jesus resumed His discourse, tak- 
ing a suggestion from the illumination of the even- 
ing before and its present forlorn aspect. He thus 
began: "I am the light of the world." Who but 
God's only begotten Son could say that? How 
bold a claim, made in the heart of the Hebrew ANCIENT HORN LAMP ' 
Temple ! " He that followeth Me walketh not in dark- 
ness, but shall have the light of life." Malachias 
had indeed said of Him that He should rise "as a 
sun of righteousness for the friends of God" (iv. 2). 
And Simeon, who received Him in that same Temple, 
had seen in Him so bright a light for Jew and Gen- 
tile that it made him long for the glorious beams of 
Paradise. But the Pharisees were otherwise minded. 
11 They said to Him : Thou givest testimony of Thy- 
self; Thy testimony is not true." It was the old attack 
upon His credentials. Jesus answered them with a 
double argument. First, admitting that He was His 
own authentication, His word was }^et to be received, 




406 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

at least as a first step, for no man knows another's 
mission so well as he does himself. Light does not 
need other light to prove that it is light. Truth 
accredits itself. The air of conviction, the lofty doc- 
trine of Jesus, were like the official dress and courtly 
bearing of an ambassador. "Jesus answered and 
said to them : Although I give testimony of Myself, 
My testimony is true ; for I know whence I came 
and whither I go ; but you know not whence I come 
and whither I go." He that claims positive knowl- 
edge of a question should at least be given a hear- 
ing by those who admit no knowledge at all. But 
they had base motives, as He had charitable ones 
even in dealing with His enemies: "You judge 
according to the flesh; I judge not any man." 
Upon which He advanced — how many times before 
had He not done it ? — the argument of His Father's 
approval, shown by His miracles, and that of His 
Father's appointment, shown by the fulfilment of the 
Messianic prophecies : " And if I do judge, My judg- 
ment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the 
Father that sent Me." Then He takes their own 
view of the rules of evidence and turns it against 
them : " And in your own law it is written that the 
testimony of two men is true." He sums up the two 
authentics of His right to teach: "I am One that 
give testimony of Myself, and the Father that sent 
Me giveth testimony of Me." A flippant answer is 
the ready refuge of guilty ignorance. They knew 
full well whom He meant by His " Father," yet they 
would annoy Him, if nothing more. " They said 
therefore to Him : Where is thy Father ? Jesus an- 
swered : Neither Me do you know nor My Father ; 
if you did know Me, perhaps you would know My 
Father also." 



" YOU SHALL DLE LN YOUR SLNS. 



407 



His cause is gained in the court of the law of 
Moses, for He has two witnesses who approve Him. 
First, His own established character : it is that of 
superhuman virtue, wisdom, loving kindness ; second, 
the living God is with Him, for, as Nicodemus had 
said, no man could do the works which He didl unless 
God were with Him. He will soon adr ; ^ third wit- 
ness, that of the Holy Spirit of Gocf inspiring the 
heart of the individual believer by His direct illumina- 
tion. This will complete the testimony for Jesus 
in all ages, the Father by His mission and His 
miracles, the Son by His wisdom and His love unto 
death, the Spirit by His personal sanctification. 



CHAPTER LVII. 

YOU SHAU, DIE IN YOUR SINS." — JESUS TEACHES 
TRUE FREEDOM. — THE SECRET OP EIFE. — "BE- 
FORE ABRAHAM WAS MADE, I AM." 

John vizi. 20-59. 
CONTINUING to teach in the Tem- 
^^ pie, and in open defiance of the 
Pharisees' purpose to seize Him 
( ' ' for His time was not yet come " ) , 
Jesus discoursed upon His union 
with the Father, upon the emancipa- 
tion of the human soul from error, 
and upon His relation as the Messias 
to the Patriarch Abraham. He was continually inter- 
rupted and insulted, but He turned everything to the 
advantage of His argument. 

The feast being over, the great multitudes of 
strangers had begun to go home. Many of those who 
remained and heard Him were earnest seekers after 
truth ; others were hot enemies. He openly pro- 




4 o8 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

claimed His power to escape their cruel designs: "I 
go, and you shall seek Me, and you shall die in your 
sin. Whither I go, you cannot come." His prophecy 
of their evil end enraged them only the more, and 
they asked derisively, " Will He kill Himself? because 
He said, Whither I go, you cannot come?" But 
both His power over them and the motive of their 
hatred He disclosed, saying : " You 
are from beneath, I am from above. 
You are of this world, I am not of 
this world. Therefore I said to you 
that you shall die in your sins. For 
if you believe not that I am He, 
you shall die in your sins." If God 
has sent Him, God will avenge His 
rejection. 

What followed was an implied 
teaching of His Divinity. They 
were baiting Him with malicious 
questions, and He turned upon them 
a blinding flash of light : ' ' They said 
therefore to Him : Who art Thou ? Jesus said to them : 
The Beginning, who also speak to you. Many things I 
have to speak and to judge of you." The Beginning 
is God, and now it has taken form and voice, it teaches 
and it judges. That would be plain enough to a 
thoughtful mind, only that the succeeding words 
brought in another view of the Deity, and until the 
Trinity were fully known, involved the mind in mys- 
tery : (( But He that sent Me is true, and the things I 
have heard of Him, these same I speak in the world." 
What God the Word had received of God the Father in 
the beginning and before the world was, He now speaks 
in the world and as messenger of the Father. But 
<( they understood not that He called God His Father." 



"THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE." 

Then Jesus said to those Jews that be- 
lieved him : If you continue in my word, 
you shall be my disciples indeed : And you 
shall know the truth, and the truth shall 
make you free. They answered him : We 
are the seed of Abraham ; and we have 
never been slaves to any man ; how sayest 
thou, You shall be free. Jesus answered 
them: Amen, amen I say unto you : That 
whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of 
sin. Now the servant abideth not in the 
house for ever : but the Son abideth for 
ever. If, therefore, the Son shall make 
you free, you shall be free indeed. I know 
that you are the children of Abraham : but 
you seek to kill me, because my word hath 
no place in you. I speak that which I have 
seen with my Father : and you do the 
things that you have seen with your 
father. 



JESUS TEACHES TRUE FREEDOM. 



409 



How and when should they and all 
mankind know what He and the Father 
are to each other ? The answer is the 
Cross. Hence the universal and imme- 
morial custom of Christians of naming the 
divine Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost, while signing themselves with the 
cross. It was armed with the cross, on 
which His enemies had lifted Him up, that 
the disciples went forth to the four quar- 
ters of the globe proclaiming ' ' that this 
Man was indeed the Son of God." Jesus 
now foretells this : " When you shall have 
lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you 
know that I am He, and that I do nothing 
of Myself, but as the Father hath taught 
Me these things I speak. And He that 
sent Me is with Me, and He hath not left Me alone ; 
for I do always the things that please Him." In vain 
shall they affix the broad seal of Rome upon His tomb 
and station the imperial soldiers to guard it. He shall 
rise from the dead. The Crucified Son of God has 
by His death made the Father and the Spirit a single 
resistless force with His humanity, as they are one 
nature with His Divinity. 

" When He spoke these things, many believed in 
Him ' ' ; mysterious as the teaching was, it told of 
His union with the Father, and therefore that of all 
whom He loved. To these good souls He added a 
word about that liberty for which the Jews yearned : 
"If you continue in My word you shall be My dis- 
ciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and 
the truth shall make you free." 

The others caught Him up, as usual, by wilfully 
misinterpreting Him : ' ' We are the seed of Abraham, 




VALLEY OF THE TOMBS OF THE 
KINGS. 



4 io LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

and we have never been slaves to any man : how 
sayest Thou, You shall be free." Upon which Jesus 
explains the difference between race freedom and soul 
freedom: "Amen, Amen, I say unto you, whosoever 
committeth sin is the servant of sin." But the sinless 
man is not only a servant of God, he is the son of 
God : ' ' Now the servant abideth not in the house 
— for ever, but the son abideth for 
ever. If therefore the Son shall 
make you free, you shall be free in- 
deed. I know that you are the chil- 
dren of Abraham, but you seek to 
kill Me, because My word hath no 
place in you." 

As to their claim of being sons 
of Abraham, Jesus had admitted it 
to be true as far as fleshly lineage 
went. But their service of the devil 
was so complete as to give them an- 
other lineage : "I speak that which 
I have seen with My Father, and 
you do the things which you have 
seen with your father. They an- 
swered and said to Him : Abraham 
is our father. Jesus said to them : 

If you be the children of Abraham, 

do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill 
Me, a man who hath spoken the truth to you, which 
I have heard of God. This Abraham did not ; you 
do the works of your father." They then retorted 
by claiming to be children of God. It was in vain, for 
Jesus showed that the inspiration of evil cannot be 
from God, nor a good heart fail to respond to the call 
of God. "They said therefore to Him: We are not 
born of fornication ; we have one father, even God. 



. ONS OF ABRAHAM AND SONS OF THE DEVIL, j 

They answered, and said to him: Abra- j 
^am is our father. Jesus saith to them : If 
_. ou be the children of Abraham, do the 
works of Abraham. But now you seek to 
iii II me, a man who have spoken the truth 
to you, which I have heard from God : this 
Abraham did not. You do the deeds of 
your father. They said then to him : We 
are not born of fornication : we have one 
Father, God. But Jesus said to them : If 
God were your Father, verily you would 
*ove me. For I proceeded and came from 
God : for I came not of myself, but he sent 
me. Why do you not know my speech ? 
Because you cannot hear my word. You 
are of your father, the devil; and the de- 
sires of your father you will do. He was 
ia murderer from the beginning, and he 
, abode not in the truth: because truth is 
not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he 
-peaketh of his own : for he is a liar, and 
.j father thereof. But if I say the truth, 
you believe me not. Which of you shall 
convince me of sin ? If I say the truth to 
vou, why do you not believe me ? He that 
s of God, heareth the words of God. 
Therefore you hear them not, because you 
j are not of God. 



THE SECRET OF LIFE. 



411 



Jesus said to them : If God were your Father you would 
indeed love Me. For from God I proceeded and came ; 
for I come not of Myself, but He sent Me." Souls un- 
der the divine influence would instantly know this, God 
bringing His own together : ' ' Why do you not know 
My speech? Because you cannot hear My word." 

By the law of like seeking like were these con- 
spirators and their dupes responsive to the malign 
suggestions of the evil one, whose purpose with men 
is deceit, dissension, and destruction ; and he was using 
these, his willing slaves, to mislead the people and 
inflame their passions against Jesus : ' ' You are of 
your father the devil, and the desires of your father 
you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, 
and he stood not in the truth, because truth is not 
in him. When he speaketh a lie he speaketh of his 
own, for he is a liar and the father thereof. But if I 
say the truth, you believe me not." 

And then He , — - -- 

makes a challenge 
to these evil-minded 
men, a challenge 
whose very utter- 
ance is victory : 
' 'Which of you shall 
convict Me of sin ? ' ' 
No being ever ap- 
peared so absolutely 
faultless, guileless, 
perfect as Jesus 
Christ. To call Him 
an impostor is to 
brand with burning 
shame the lips that 
speak the word. No the tombs of the kings. 




412 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




other name was ever heard so synonymous with good- 
ness as that of Jesus. And all of His goodness is given 
Him to set Him forth as Saviour and Teacher of men. 
His goodness as Son of God is His 
truthfulness as spokesman of God : "If 
I say the truth to you, why do you not 
believe Me ? He that is of God heareth 
the words of God. Therefore you hear 
them not because you are not of God." 
These last two sentences should be 
written in gold. 

In reply the tormentors could only 
babble forth in their rage the oft-re- 
peated charge, that Jesus was no Jew 
because He loved all mankind, 
and no true teacher but a diabolist 
because He stood against them, 
working miracles : ' ' Do we not 
say well, that Thou art a Samari- 
tan and hast a devil ? Jesus answered : I have not a 
devil, but I honor My Father and you have dishon- 
ored Me. But I seek not My own glory ; there is One 
that seeketh and judgeth." Notice that Jesus, spurn- 
ing the accusation of diabolism, yet is not offended at 
being called a Samaritan. 

Upon this the Master turned towards those whose 
good will He could count upon, and taught them the 
immortal efficacy of His doctrine, that it was the true 
elixir of life, saving the soul unto the life of glory 
in Heaven, and raising the body from the grave to 
a heavenly immortality: "Amen, Amen, I say to 
you, if any man keep My word, he shall not see death 
for ever." Now, most of the enemies of Jesus were 
Pharisees and believed in the immortality of the soul 
and in the resurrection of the body, and for defence 



Before Abraham was made, 



"BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS MADE, I AM." 413 

of these truths they were incessantly warring against 
the Sadducees. They knew full well, therefore, what 
Jesus meant ; but for all that they snapped at Him, 
striving to hold Him to a preposterous literal sense of 
His words : ' ' The Jews therefore said : Now we know 
that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead and the pro- 
phets, and Thou sayest, If any man keep My word, he 
shall not taste death for ever. Art Thou greater than 
our father Abraham, who is dead, and the prophets, 
who are dead? Whom dost Thou make Thyself? " 

How grievous a perversion ! Everything in Scrip- 
ture proved that the Seed of Abraham was to be 
greater than he. Here is one whose lightest word 
plainly surpasses the wisdom of Abraham and of 
his religion, nay, fulfils it all as the man fulfils the 
child. Fatal error, to look for a perpetuation of a 
promise rather than for its fulfilment ! But this error 
was that of minds on fire with passionate ambition. 
Jesus answers them by again calling 
them back to consider His union 
with His Father, and does so in a 
way to bring home to honest minds 
His relation to Abraham as the rea- 
son of Abraham's dignity of Patri- 
arch : ''Jesus answered : If I glorify 
Myself, My glory is nothing. It is 
My Father that glorifieth Me, of 
whom you say that He is your God. 
And you have not known Him, but 
1 know Him. And if I shall say that 
I know Him not, I shall be like to 
you, a liar. But I do know Him, 
and do keep His word." 

And now at last we reach the end 
of this intensely important colloquy : 



GREATER THAN ABRAHAM. 

Amen, amen I say to you, if any man 
keep my word, he shall not see death for 
ever. The Jews, therefore, said : Now we 
know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is 
dead, and the prophets : and thou sayest : 
If any man keep my word, he shall not 
taste death for ever. Art thou greater 
than our father Abraham who is dead ? 
and the prophets are dead. Whom dost 
thou make thyself ? Jesus answered : If I 
glorify myself, my glory is nothing : it is 
my Father that glorifieth me, of whom you 
say that he is your God. And you ha\e 
not known him : but I know him ; and if I 
should say that I know him not, I should te 
like to you, a liar. But I know him, and 
keep his word. Abraham your father re- 
joiced that he might see my day : he saw it, 
and was glad. The Jews then said to him : 
Thou art not yet fifty years old ; and hast 
thou seen Abraham ? Jesus saith to them, 
Amen, amen 1 say to you, before Abraham 
was made, lam. Then they took up stones 
to cast at him : but Jesus hid himself, and 
went out of the Temple. 



4H 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




Took up stones to cast 
at Him." 



it is an outright claim on the part of Jesus to possess 
one of the incommunicable attributes of the Godhead 
— eternity. Jesus exclaimed: "Before Abraham was 
made, I am." This is the name which Jehovah gave 
Himself when He spoke to Moses from the burning 
bush : I am. God is not of the past nor of the future; 
He is the Everlasting Now. Abraham was the great- 
est of men to the Hebrews. But he was only man ; he 
was made, he was born, he had a beginning. 
Jesus already had affirmed, "I am the Begin- 
ning." Now He says more simply, " I am." The 
ages begin and run onward and lapse to their end- 
ing, but Jesus is unchanging Being, whose life is 
that of the divine Word, without beginning or 
ending, the eternal life of God. All this came 
from Jesus in reference to the Patriarch Abraham, 
whose prophetic eye had rejoiced in visions of the 
Messias : " Abraham your father rejoiced that he 
might see My day ; he saw it and was glad. The 
Jews therefore said to Him : Thou art not yet fifty 
years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham? Jesus 
said to them, Amen, Amen, I say to you, before 
Abraham was made, I am." This left but the 
alternative of adoring Jesus as God, or of ston- 
ing Him to death as a blasphemer. " They took 
up stones therefore to cast at Him ; but Jesus 
hid Himself and went out of the Temple." 



THE MAN BORN BLIND. 



415 



CHAPTER I, VIII. 



THE MAN BORN BLIND. 

John IX. 1-4.1. 

As Jesus disappeared into the friendly ranks of His 
disciples and escaped from the rage of His enemies, 
He found an occasion for teaching a very consoling 
doctrine. Among the beggars at one of the approaches 
to the Temple was a man blind from his birth. Stop- 
ping before him, Jesus looked at him and waited to 
draw from him some prayer for his cure. Whether 
he was a more than usually pitiful 
sight, or because of some previous 
disputes among the disciples, one of 
them asked : " Rabbi, who hath sin- 
ned, this man or his parents, that he 
should be born blind ? " It was hard 
to think that God had punished him 
for sins not yet committed, easier to 
lay his blindness to his parents' 
guilt, for many a man suffers on that 
account. Jesus in His turn taught 
that such reasons, if present, are but 
secondary ones with God. No doubt 
that sin, in the last resort, is the 
cause of every pain man suffers, sin 
of the sufferer's own committing or 
of some other culprit, ranging from 
Adam down. But God's permission 
of human suffering is primarily for 
His own glory and the sufferer's final welfare. Nothing 
is plainer than that the servants of God by their suffer- 
ings advance the dominion of their Heavenly Father; 
they do so by the spectacle of their patience, courage, 



"I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD." 

And Jesus passing by, saw a man that 
was blind from his birth : And his disciples 
asked him: Rabbi, who hath sinned, this 
man, or his parents, that he should be born 
blind ? Jesus answered : Neither hath this 
man sinned, nor his parents ; but that the 
works of God should be made manifest in 
him. I must work the works of him that 
sent me, whilst it is day : the night cometh, 
when no man can work. As long as 1 am 
in the world, I am the light of the world. 
When he said these things, he spat on the 
ground, and made clay of the spittle, and 
spread the clay upon his eyes : And said to 
him : Go, wash in the pool of Siloe (which 
is interpreted, Sent). He went, therefore, 
and washed ; and he came seeing. The 
neighbors, therefore, and they who had 
seen him before that he was a beggar, 
said : Is not this he that sat, and begged ? 
Some said : This is he. And others, No, 
but he is like him. But he said : I am he. 
They said, therefore, to him : How were 
thy eyes opened ? He answered : That 
man who is called Jesus, made clay, and 
anointed my eyes, and said to me : Go to 
the pool of Siloe, and wash. And I went, 
I washed, and I see. And they said to him : 
Where is he ? He saith : I know not. 



416 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

fortitude, cheerful resignation. They are themselves 
elevated and strengthened by suffering, and the loving 
care of sufferers by Christian charity is the school of 
Christian heroism. Therefore Jesus answered : " Neith- 
er hath this man sinned nor his parents, but that the I 
works of God should be made manifest in him." In j 
this particular case the charity of God was shown by 
a miracle, soon to become the talk of the whole city. 
" I must work the works of Him who sent Me whilst it 
is day; the night cometh, when no man can work. As 
long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 

As if to say that He, the light of souls, might 
choose as His favorite external prodigy the giving of j 
light to blind eyes. He chose to do so now in a solemn j 
way, teaching the use of external symbols, most l 
humble in their own substance — spittle and clay — but 
made divine in their power by their Creator's use. j 
It is the sacramental idea. " When He had said 
these things He spat on the ground and made clay of J 
the spittle, and spread the clay upon his eyes, and said 
to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloe, which is inter- I 
preted, Sent. He went, therefore, and washed; and he ! 
came seeing." It was an amazing thing that Jesus 
could give eyesight by a wish or a word, but it was 
still more wonderful that He could lodge the power 
in clay and spittle to take effect with the water of 
Siloe. 

The pool or spring of Siloe was in the southerly 
part of the city, between Moriah and Sion. and while 
the blind man was being led away to wash this 
singular ointment from his eyes, Jesus and His dis- 
ciples left the vicinity. On the return of the man, 
completely possessed of sight, the miracle caused a 
tremendous excitement. It was His first miracle 
since coming to the city. 



THE MAN BORN BLIND. 



417 



CHAPTER IvIX 



CONTENTION WITH THK PHARISEES ABOUT THE 
RESTORATION TO SIGHT OF THE MAN BORN 
BUND. 

John ix. 13-41. 

It happened that one of the traditions of the 
Pharisees about Sabbath observance ran thus : It is 
not lawful to rub the eyelids with spittle on the 
Sabbath day — an almost incredible pettiness of formal- 
ism. Now, when this blind man restored to sight, 
this living evidence of the power of Jesus, was brought 
to the Pharisees, they were nonplussed. What could 
be done against such a Being as Jesus ? If He gave 
eyesight to one He might take it from another. What 
might He not do to any of them ? Perhaps He really 
was the Messias. Dissension arose. St. John con- 
tinues : ''They bring him that had been blind to 
the Pharisees. Now it was the Sabbath when 
Jesus made the clay and opened his 
eyes. Again therefore the Pharisees ask- 
ed him, how he had received his sight. 
But he said to them : He put clay upon my eyes, 
and I washed, and I see. Some therefore of the 
Pharisees said ; This man is not of God, who keep- 
eth not the Sabbath. But others said : How can a 
man that is a sinner do such miracles ? And there 
was a division among them." They must have call- 
ed a sort of impromptu meeting of the elders and 
discussed the question, the man being brought before 
them. An idea occurred to some cunning member 
of the conspiracy : the man was an accomplice of 
Jesus, had only pretended to be blind. This notion 
changed from suspicion to certainty when they cross- 




I went, I washed, 
and I see." 



4i 3 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

questioned the man : •' What sayest thou of Him that 
hath opened thy eyes ? And he said : He is a 
prophet." That settled the matter — the man was 
party to an imposture. But an unexpected difficulty 
ioon arose ; this was the testimony of the man's 
parents. "The Jews then did not believe concerning 
him, that he had been blind and had received his 
sight, until they called the parents of him that had 
received his sight. And asked them, saying : Is this 
your son, who you say was born blind ? How then 
doth he now see? His parents answered them and 
said: We know that this is our son, and that he was 
born blind : But how he now seeth, we know not : or 
who hath opened his eyes, we know not : ask himself; 
he is of age, let him speak for himself. These things 
his parents said, because they feared the Jews. For 
the Jews had already agreed among themselves, that 
if any man should confess Him to be Christ, he should 
be put out of the synagogue. Therefore did his 
parents say: He is of age, ask him." 

No, there was no collusion ; it was not the case 
of a juggler and his disguised assistant. It was an 
astounding miracle, the sudden, perfect, radical, un- 
deniable gift of sight to a beggar born blind, as plain 
a gift as a piece of money would have been. It must 
be from God, and it was idle to set God's Sabbath 
against Himself. What then ? Something must be 
done with this man, who had but to open his eyes to 
preach the power of Jesus Christ. He had meantime 
got away from them, but they sent after him and 
fetched him back. They undertook to shut his mouth, 
since they could not close his eyes. The account of 
the brief and heated controversy, in which the common 
sense of the beggar overthrew the shifty lies of the 
doctors of the law, is extremely curious : " They there- 



THE MAN BORN $LIND. 419 

fore called the man again that had been blind, and 
said to him : Give glory to God. We know that 
this man is a sinner. He said therefore to them : If 
He be a sinner, I know not : one thing I know, 
that whereas I was blind, now I see. They said 
then to him : What did He to thee ? How did He 
open thy eyes ? He answered them : I have told you 
already, and you have heard : why would you hear 
it again ? will you also become His disciples ? They 
reviled him therefore, and said : Be thou His dis- 
ciple ; but we are the disciples of Moses. We know 
that God spoke to Moses : but as to this man, we 
know not from whence He is. The man answered, 
and said to them : Why, herein is a wonderful thing 
that you know not from whence He is, and He hath 
opened my eyes. Now we know that God doth not 
hear sinners : but if a man be a server of God, and 
doth His will, him He heareth. From the beginning 
of the world it hath not been heard that any man 
hath opened the eyes of one born blind. Unless this 
man were of God, He could not do anything. They 
answered, and said to him : Thou wast wholly born 
in sins, and dost thou teach us ? And they cast him 
out." Our Saviour was touched by this courageous 
conduct, when He heard of it. Seeking out the 
man, He spoke with Him, every word being a ray of 
spiritual sunlight, the opening of the eyes of his soul : 
' ' Jesus heard that they had cast him out : and when 
He had found him, He said to him : Dost thou believe 
in the Son of God ? He answered, and said : Who is 
He, Iyord, that I may believe in Him? And Jesus 
said to him : Thou hast both seen Him, and it is 
He that talketh with thee. And he said : I believe, 
L,ord. And falling down he adored Him." As to the 
Pharisees, His words to them are among the saddest 



420 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

ever recorded. He laments His lot, which is to be 
the gift of sight to some and the curse of blindness 
to others, but a wilful blindness, guilty and obstinate. 
The old proverb tells us, " None are so blind as 
those who will not see." Jesus said : " For judgment 
I am come into this world : that they who see not, 
may see: and they who see, may become blind. 
And some of the Pharisees, who were with Him, 
heard : and they said unto Him : Are we also blind ? 
Jesus said to them : If you were blind, you should 
not have sin : but now you say : We see. Your sin 
remaineth." 



CHAPTER LX. 

the: shepherd and the sheep. 

John x. i-io. 

JESUS continued to teach, either in the neighbor- 
hood of the Temple or in some spot convenient for 
a gathering of the people, and for a time seemed freer 
from irritating interruption. Perhaps He placed Him- 
self at the sheep-gate of the city, where the flocks 
of sheep, so peaceful and docile, with their watchful , 
shepherds, would illustrate the discourse He was going I 
to deliver. 

He had dwelt upon His sovereign authority over 
the beliefs of men and their affections, affirming with 
emphasis that He was Master of the human mind 
because He was the Only Begotten Son of God, one 
with the Father ; therefore the Teacher of the world. 
From this interior realm He passes naturally to His 
Father's external kingdom, and as He had done 
before, so now again He affirms that His discipleship 
is a sheepfold of which He is the shepherd. Between 
Him and His adherents there is an external as well as 



THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP. 



421 



an interior relation. The followers of Jesus are sepa- 
rated from the rest of men not only by difference of 
belief but also by an outward order of life. Others 
are indeed His sheep, but His lost sheep. The re- 
ligion of Jesus is not merely an inward transfor- 
mation, shown by convictions and affections ; it is a 
society, an institution among institutions, a family set 
off from other families. Christ came both to establish 
a religion and to set apart a people. But this people 
of God is intended to include all peoples ; its purpose 
is to save souls one by one till it has saved all. 

"Amen, Amen I say to you: he that entereth 
not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up 
another way, the same is a thief 
and a robber." What else could 
the servant in charge of the fold 
think of a man who, avoiding the 
door, should be caught climbing 
over the high wall which surrounds 
the sheepfolds of the Orient ? How 
different when he hears at the gate 
the confident knock and familiar 
voice of one of the shepherds ? 
" But he that entereth in by the 
door is the shepherd of the sheep. 
To him the porter openeth, and the 
sheep hear his voice, and he calleth 
his own sheep by name and leadeth 
them out. And when he hath let 
out his own sheep he goeth before 
them, and the sheep follow him, 
because they know his voice." One by one and ad- 
dressing each by his own name does the shepherd 
deal with his sheep ; and thus do Christ and His 
representatives deal with His people, both personally 



"I AM THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP." 

Amen, amen I say to you : he that enter- 
eth not by the door into the sheepfold, but 
climbeth up another way, the same is a 
thief and a robber. But he that entereth 
in by the door, is the shepherd of the sheep. 
To him the porter openeth ; and the sheep 
hear his voice : and he calleth his own 
sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 
And when he hath let out his own sheep, 
he goeth before them, and the sheep follow 
him, because they know his voice. But a 
stranger they follow not, but fly from him, 
because they know not the voice of 
strangers. This proverb Jesus spoke to 
them. But they understood not what he 
spoke to them. Jesus therefore said to 
them again : Amen, amen I say to you, I 
am the door of the sheep. All others, as 
many as have come, are thieves and rob- 
bers : and the sheep heard them not. I am 
the door. By me, if any man enter in, he 
shall be saved : and he shall go in, and go 
out, and shall find pastures. The thief 
cometh not but for to steal and to kill and 
to destroy. I am come that they may have 
life, and may have it more abundantly, 



422 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



and as a family, each one by himself and all together 
as brethren, in loving union and peace. The robber- 
shepherd, the teacher of error, is very different. He 
resorts to hypocrisy, usurpation, misleading the un- 
wary, poisoning the minds of the people with sus- 
picions, creating dissensions, all plain marks of Satan 
and true marks of a robber- shepherd. 

Such shepherds cannot pass the gate-keeper, and 
when they find that they cannot obtain the sanction 
of lawful authority, they belittle or openly reject it. 
They are unfamiliar with the gentle ways of Christ's 
sheep: " But a stranger they follow not, but fly from 
him, because they know not the voice of strangers." 
They know the voice of their own shepherd, for he ap- 
peals to their love of God with the freedom of a father, 
he is at home among them, frankly reproves their faults, 
speaks as one having authority ; not appealing to 
prejudice or flattering self-love. The voice of the 
Spirit of Jesus in external authority is instantly an- 
swered by that of the same Spirit in the 
loving loyalty of true Christians. 

It was the purpose of the Master to 
excite curiosity about the meaning of 
this allegory, and thus 
to lengthen the pro- 
cess and deepen the 
effect of His teach- 
ing : ' ' This pro- 
verb Jesus spoke to 
them ; but 
they un- 
der s tood 
not what 
He spoke 

They know his voice." to them. 




THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP. 423 

Jesus therefore said to them again, Amen, Amen, I say- 
to you, I am the door of the sheep. All others, as many 
as have come, are thieves and robbers, and the sheep 
heard them not." John the Baptist had been the 
porter stationed by God at that door, proclaiming 
Jesus of Nazareth as the Messias. The Scribes and 
Pharisees would not enter by this door, but climbed 
up another way. The sheep, the people, heard not 
these false leaders, or if they did, it was to be torn 
by hatred, divided into factions, and finally ruined 
and scattered among the nations as a flock of sheep 
among wild beasts. Has not this been the pasture 
into which the Pharisees led those Israelites who re- 
jected Jesus Christ? 

" I am the door," He continues. " By Me, if any 
man enter in, he shall be saved, and he shall go in 
and go out, and shall find pastures. The thief cometh 
not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am 
come that they may have life, and may have it more 
abundantly." 

Thus does our Saviour sum up the reason of 
shepherd and sheepfold. The sheep must have 
pasture, and they must also have a shepherd and a 
sheepfold. The pasture, the rich grass on the fertile 
hill-sides and in the pleasant valleys, and the clear 
water of the running brook — what would these be 
good for if wolves and thieves were free of the flock ? 
Shelter and defence are needed that the pasture may 
be enjoyed. So with the men and women of Christ's 
flock. Their life is the knowledge and the love of 
Jesus Christ more and more abundantly enjoyed. The 
Church of Christ is the fold, the shelter of the peo- 
ple from error and vice ; the ministry of the Church 
is Christ's company of shepherds to guard them. 
And apart from all figures of speech, the Divine Spirit 



:_ 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



within the Christian's soul continually demands the 
same Divine Spirit in an external brotherhood as 
a safeguard of its own inner life — a criterion and test 
of the validity of its inward guidance ; just as the 
soul of man craves a voice to speak to his breth- 
ren and an ear to hear their voices in reply. Both 
orders of life must be divine, a divine interior life 
united to its divine expression in the Christian 
Church. 




Hn 



"One fold and one Shepherd." 



"/ AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 



425 




CHAPTER LXI. 




"i AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD." 
John x. 1 1-2 1. 

THEN Jesus said : "lam the Good Shep- 
herd; the Good Shepherd giveth His 
life for His sheep." Life, reputa- 
tion, friends — all were freely given 
by Jesus for us. Little did that 
j3&k multitude, including every diverse 
character in Israel, and even a scattering of Romans, 
Greeks, and other pagans, dream of the heroic love 
which thrilled the soul of Jesus as He spoke those 
memorable words, •' I am the Good Shepherd." He 
continued in His usual style of contrasting opposites : 
" But the hireling, and he that is not the shep- 
herd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf 
coming, and leaveth the sheep and flieth, and the 
wolf catcheth and scattereth the sheep. And the 
hireling flieth because he is a hireling, and he hath 
no care for the sheep." 



"I KNOW MINE AND MINE KNOW ME." 

I am the Good Shepherd ; the good 
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 
But the hireling, and he that is not the 
shepherd, whose own the sheep are not. 
seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the 
sheep and flieth, and the wolf catcheth 
and scattereth the sheep. And the hireling 
flieth because he is a hireling, and he hath 
no care for the sheep. I am the Good 
Shepherd, and I know mine, and mine 
know me. As the P'ather knovveth me, and 
I know the Father ; and I lay down my 
life for my sheep. And other sheep I have 
that are not of this fold ; them also I must 
bring, and they shall hear my voice, and 
there shall be one fold and one Shepherd. 
Therefore doth the Father love me, be- 
cause I lay down my life, that I may take 
it again. No man taketh it away from 
me, but I lay it down of myself, and I 
have power to lay it down, and I have 
' power to take it up again. This com- 
mandment have I received from my Father. 



426 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Jesus meant the Jewish priesthood 
of that day, bought and sold for 
money and for place, cringing to 
pagan authority, dealing double with 
the people, caring nothing for their 
spiritual life, and about to make 
themselves eternally infamous by 
putting the Good Shepherd to death. 
And He meant, of course, all others 
in all ages placed as shepherds of 
souls, as parents or pastors, and who 
for money, or social place, or craven 
fear of men betray their charge to 
heretics or to the devil-shepherds 
of lust or drunkenness or sloth or 
avarice. 

How close is His personal union with His beloved 
Jesus tells in the succeeding words of this most 
solemn discourse, which recalls His description of the 
Eucharistic union. It is the inter-consciousness of 
two spirits of each other's presence in one blended 
double personality, only to be fully understood when 
we know the union of the Son and the Father in 
Heaven. <l I am the Good Shepherd, and I know 
Mine, and Mine know Me. As the Father knoweth 
Me, and I know the Father." And what is the 
seal of this union ? It is stamped into our souls by 
the cross steeped in His life-blood. For He says : 
"And I lay down My life for My sheep." 

Then His heart expanded towards the Gentiles, 
that immense flock straying away from Him without 
a shepherd, a prey to every imposture, superstition, 
and vice. He would give them God for their Father, 
Himself for their brother, His Spirit as the seed of 
everlasting life, His Church as a safe and happy 



"/ AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD." 427 

sheepfold : ''And other sheep I have that are not 
of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall 
hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one 
Shepherd." And ever after that and until this day 
does Jesus stir our hearts with zeal for His other 
sheep, and raise up missionaries to bring them into the 
one fold, under the loving care of the one Shepherd : 
missionary priests who pierce the triple armor of 
heathendom by their zeal and often by their martyr- 
dom : missionary sisters, who save the forsaken chil- 
dren and the plague-stricken men and women of pagan 
nations, and train up new generations to know 
and love the Good Shepherd. Missionary men and 
women of the laity whose edifying lives are the 
authentication of their earnest words of truth to their 
friends and relatives outside the one fold. May the 
Good Shepherd multiply all these various kinds of 
missionaries and deepen their spirit of sacrifice for the 
lost sheep, according to His own words, as He closed 
this heart-filling sermon : ' ' Therefore doth the Father 
love Me, because I lay down My life that I may 
take it again." Tn what spirit? In that of freedom, 
not by any dread fatality, but by free choice does 
Jesus die for His beloved : ' ' No man taketh it away 
from Me, but I lay it down of Myself, and I have 
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it 
up again." Such is the Spirit of the Cross, and such 
is the only constraint laid upon its Hero : ' ' This 
commandment have I received from My Father." 

As Jesus departed from the scene of this long and 
eventful debate, He left His friends and enemies still 
contending: " Many of the Jews said: He hath a 
devil and is mad. Why hear you Him? Others 
said, These are not the words of one that hath a 
devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind ? " 



4^8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



CHAPTER LXII, 




THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 

Luke x. 25-37. 

ENOUGH had been done for the city of Jerusalem 
for the present. Jesus passed out of its eastern gate 
with the last lingering pilgrims of the Feast of 
Tabernacles, and took His way with His disciples 
towards Jericho and the Jordan, intending to cross 
into the Perea. He left after Him a deposit of truth 
of the highest order. He had proclaimed Himself the 
Shepherd of Israel and of the nations, the Light 
of the world, the Fountain of living water, the Eternal 
I Am. Xow, in passing eastward He would spread 
the Glad Tidings in a portion of Israel as yet un- 
visited by Him except in passing between the city 
and His home in Galilee. 

A Scribe, a doctor of the law of Moses, had fol- 
lowed Him quietly, with no evil purpose indeed, but 
3'et unconvinced. Probably it was as the caravan 
rested upon the road to Jericho that He made bold 
to ask Jesus a question, a most vital one, indeed, 
but asked with the motive of drawing our Saviour out 
rather than of humbly receiving instruction : ' ' Master, 
what must I do to possess eternal life ? " Taking him 
according to his profession, our Saviour answered, 
" What is written in the Law? How readest thou? " 
The Scribe's response indicates that he had learned the 
law to some purpose, and had even made progress in 
the Spirit of the New Law.' He did not name in his 
reply any of the external observances, even those of 
plain divine ordination as the means of eternal life — 
he went straight to the root: "He answering said, 
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole 



THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 



429 



heart and with thy whole soul, and 
with all thy strength, and with all 
thy mind, and thy neighbor as thy- 
self" (Deuteronomy vi. 5). It was 
the custom of the Jews to carry favor- 
ite texts of Scripture written on bits 
of parchment hung in a rich setting, 
like an amulet, around the neck. 
Perhaps this was our scribe's amulet 
and he read it off to Jesus. The 
Master was pleased, as well He 
might be : " And He said to him : 
Thou hast answered right ; this do 
and thou shalt live." Love is life ; 
the seed of life and the fruit of life is 
lovingly to rejoice in God's majesty 
and goodness, joyfully to advance 
His interests, to be made one with 
Him in conscious union of thought 
and purpose, and thus to secure 
eternal life. This also means love 
for men : the purpose to make all 
other men equal partakers of this 
our joy in God and of every spiritual 
and temporal good. 

The question asked had been a most weighty one, 
and had received a perfect answer. 
Now came something different. 
The eternal race problem rose up 
like an ill-laid ghost. The 
Scribe was a Jew, and 
Jesus? — a Jew indeed, but 
loyal 



"AND WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR ?" 

And behold a certain lawyer stood up 
tempting him and saying: Master, what 
must I do to possess eternal life ? But he 
said to him : What is written in the law ? 
How readest thou ? He answering said : 
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy 
whole heart and with thy whole soul, and 
with all thy strength, and with all thy 
mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And 
he said to him : Thou hast answered 
right ; this do and thou shalt live. But he, 
willing to justify himself, said to Jesus : 
And who is my neighbor? And Jesus an- 
swering, said : A certain man went down 
from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among 
robbers, who also stripped him, and having 
wounded him, went away, leaving him half 
dead. And it chanced that a certain priest 
went down the same way, and seeing him, 
passed by. In like manner also a Levite, 
when he was near the place and saw him, 
passed by. But a certain Samaritan, be- 
ing on his journey, came near him, and 
seeing him was moved with compassion. 
And going up to him he bound up his 
wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set- 
ting him upon his own beast, brought 
him to an inn and took care of him. And 
the next day he took out two pence and 
gave to the host, and said : Take care of 
him, and whatsoever thou shalt spend over 
and above, I, at my return, will repay 
thee. Which of these three, in thy opin- 
ion, was neighbor to him that fell among 
robbers? But he said: He that showed 
mercy to him. And Jesus said to him : 
Go, and do thou in like manner. 



was He a 



Jew 



This was one of the perplexing questions of the 
hour. Did Jesus stand loyally by the exclusive 




Leaving him half dead." 



453 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




"Setting him upon his own beast." 
are brethren 



claims of His race? Upon the term 
1 ' neighbor ' ' used in the quotation from 
the Law the Scribe determined to pivot 
the Master's explanation. He was no 
doubt conscious of his own racial nar- 
rowness, but wishing to justify himself 
he said to Jesus : ' ' And who is my 
neighbor?" Little did he dream that 
he was preparing an amulet of brother- 
ly love which the noblest men and 
women of the whole race of Adam 
would proudly wear as a necklace of 
heavenly pearls till the end of time : 
the parable of the Good Samaritan. 
Jesus did not search for this in the 
Hebrew Scriptures ; He opened the 
book of His own heart. 

Count all the rich treasures in this 
little parable. It teaches that all men 
that high office is not necessarily high 
virtue ; that we should be humble ci:ough to learn 
the practice of virtue from all kinds of people ; that 
in religious minds the term neighbor is to be elevated 
to teach religious affection ; that we should not leave 
to others the offices of charity that Providence im- 
poses on ourselves ; that when a good work is start- 
ed it should be carried on to perfect fulfilment ; that 
one may make a course of theology and miss the 
homely virtues on which it is based; that the first 
instinct of compassion is to be cherished and obeyed, 
and its final impulses resolutely carried out ; that 
one can learn good lessons of theology bj T going 
to school to his own heart ; that there are hier- 
archies of official dignity and others of divine loveli- 
ness. These are the lights from above which tinted 



MAR V AND MAR THA. 431 

the air as Jesus sat and taught the meaning of ' ' Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 

Inspired by this teaching the Good Samaritan's 
beast has grown into many caravans of charity, and 
every road in the world has its gentle watchers to 
succor the fallen and the destitute ; his two pence 
have increased into many millions of money yearly 
spent in solacing every wound of man. 



CHAPTER IvXIII. 

MARY AND MARTHA. 

Luke x. 38-42, 

Bethany, a village less than an hour's journey 
eastward from Jerusalem, was the home of the sisters 
Mary and Martha, and Lazarus their brother. They 
were persons of some note, and perhaps Jesus had al- 
ready found comfort in their society during short 
intervals of rest snatched from His recent struggles 
with His enemies at the Temple. It was either be- 
fore or after the parable of the Good Samaritan that 
our Saviour's little party was entertained by this 
family. Mary of Bethany, it is commonly believed, 
is the same as Mary of Magdala, the converted harlot. 
It is not necessary to enter into the reasons for this 
belief, one which in the traditions of the Church 
and the devotions of the people has been almost 
universal and immemorial. 

It sometimes happens that when the foul tide 
of vice has receded from a soul it discloses a spiritual 
soil of great fruitfulness. Penitents have often shown 
that however low their degradation had been in sin, 
their elevation in virtue is proportionately high. 

So in Mary of Bethany : it was as if some malarious 



432 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

swamp had been drained and its poisonous vapors 
exchanged for a rich harvest. By nature she was a 
singular mixture of sensual weakness and spiritual 
perceptiveness, just as we have poets whose private 
lives are those of beasts and whose poems are the 
nights of angels. By the love of Christ Mary had 
wholly conquered sensuality, entirely overcome her 
inferior nature ; everything was now absorbed in the 
contemplation of the loveliness of God, especially as 
revealed in the God-Man Jesus Christ. 

Martha, on the other hand, was always pure and 
never contemplative — a busy, zealous, active soul, 
thoughtful of the comfort of all and also thoughtful 
of their obligations ; a type of the domestic virtues 
of woman, of that hospitable, teaching, correcting, 
loving, and edifying being who is to the world and 
its people the average and regular force which moves 
the family machinery of life. Higher than this is the 
contemplative soul. This soul is the reservoir from 
which the collected waters of wisdom are drawn by 
more active spirits. Simple receptivity of God is a 
higher trait ihan busy questioning about God. But 
we know that a happy combination of both docility 
and activity is best. 

The reader will remember that Mary first appears 

in Galilee, at a banquet near or in Magdala, on the 

shore of Lake Genesareth. While leading her life 

of shame she was far away, therefore, from her home, 

as was natural she should wish to be. After her 

repentance she was a follower of Jesus. Perhaps it 

was by His kindly intervention that L,azarus and 

Martha had consented to receive the poor penitent 

back to their home. And perhaps, again, it was 

a last lingering sentiment of offended womanly 
" Sitting at the Lord's ° ° . J 

f eet » chastity that spoke out m Martha s impatience 




MARY AND MARTHA. 



433 




" Martha was busy about much serving." 

at Mary "sitting at the Lord's feet," and only listen 
ing. In this view, the virtue of Martha in meekly 
and silently submitting to her poor sister's praise by 
Jesus is all the more noteworthy. 

But the chief lesson of this beautiful incident, as 
we have already said, is that the superior life of man 
is in communicating with God, and that the state of 
contemplation gives the best aid to that of active 
obedience ; or rather, that the two must in every 



434 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



soul be blended into one unitive 
state, the more important element 
being the contemplation which pre- 
cedes and characterizes action. 

Another lesson, and one of very- 
practical bearing, is that genuine 
repentance brings with it fitness for 
the highest honor bestowed on in- 
nocence itself. Martha thought 
otherwise. She never dreamed that 
preference was due to her sister 
over herself because she could pray 
better, or that a fallen woman could ever be lifted 
by penance or anything else to religious equality 
with a virtuous one ; she must have been amazed that 
her tainted sister was raised even higher than her- 
self. 



THE BEST PART. 

Now it came to pass as they went, that 
he entered into a certain town : and a cer- 
tain woman named Martha received him 
into her house. And she had a sister 
called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord's 
feet, heard his word. But Martha was 
busy about much serving. Who stood 
and said: Lord, hast thou no care that 
my sister hath left me alone to serve ? 
speak to her therefore, that she help me. 
And the Lord, answering, said to her : 
Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art 
troubled about many things. But one 
thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the 
best part, which shall not be taken away 
from her. 




SITE OF HOUSE OF MARV AND MARTHA* 






THE LORD'S PRA YER. 435 

CHAPTER LXIV. 

jesus teachks his disciples how to pray. — the 
lord's prayer. 

Matt. vi. 9-13 ; vii. 7-1 z ; Luke xi. 1-13. 

Lying between Bethany and Jerusalem was the 
Mount of Olives, our Saviour's chosen refuge for 
prayer, as well as for His more intimate conferences 
with the disciples. There in the hours of the night, 
the darkness deepened by the shadows of the olive- 
trees, Jesus communed with His Father, and with the 
angels. Perhaps it was on his way to Bethany, after 
one of these spiritual retreats, that the Apostles said 
to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray." This is the most 
practical side of all Christ's teaching, prayer being 
the primeval means of union with the Deity. As the 
apprentice learns first the use of tools, so does the 
Christian learn how to pray. And as the boy in 
the workshop looks at his master and wonders at 
his dextrous handling of the tools and asks to be 
taught it, so acted the Apostles with our Saviour. 
They saw Him enter the shadows, His brow clouded 
with trouble and His eye restless ; His soul was 
wrought to anger or depressed with melancholy after 
His conflicts ; and His listless step and darkened face 
showed this. But when He came forth again He was 
restored. His head was erect, consolation and peace 
rested upon His countenance, His eye kindled with 
gentle fire, and His heart throbbed with courage. He 
had been engaged in prayer. St. Luke tells us what 
happened on one of these occasions : ' ' And it came 
to pass that as He was in a certain place praying, 
when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him : 
Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his 



436 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

disciples. n Now, Jesus iu the Sermon on the Mount 
had already given them the form of prayer which 
is peculiarly His, and is called the Lord's Prayer ; 
but He gave it to them again. Perhaps the Apostles, 
like man} r after them, wanted some easy routine into 
which an indolent soul might slip and pray as one 
moves in a groove — which would make prayer take 
care of itself. Jesus knew that prayer is a mental 
function too high to have its subtle forces harnessed 
by any one set of methods. " Think over what I 
say to you," we might interpret Him — " do it humbly 
and with attention, and 3 T ou will have the fruit of 
thought with God, as far as word and sentence can 
give it." Just as a set of harness fetters the dull 
horse and helps the spirited one, so does a form of 
prayer help or hinder a soul. 

St. Luke and St. Matthew give the Lord's Prayer 
with some variations as the Master at different times 
taught His disciples to pray by its means. The tra- 
ditional prayer in universal use is a blending of the ver- 
sions of both Evangelists. Its excellence is supreme. 
It is a summary of all that man can ask and God can 
give. Though short, it is not too much condensed. 
The Lord's Prayer is like an essential oil whose every 
drop distributes the flavor and fragrance of the deep 
flowing streams of divine union. 

"When you pray, say, Our Father, who art i?i 
Heaven." There is fatherhood and brotherhood in this 
opening sentence. The hateful word my or mine is 
unknown in this prayer. The human soul, now lift- 
ing up its head from the moral slavery in which it 
had been bound for so many ages, salutes the Deity 
with the term Father as the common Parent of all 
the race and the bond of its new-found brotherly 
unity. Common origin should mean common father- 



THE LORD'S PRA YER. 437 

hood. Love is unitive, and as it seeks union with 
God its Father, it invites union with man its brother. 
The one love measures the other. The key of Heaven 
is the word of love, love for God and man alike. 
This is the new prayer ; for in the Old Testament 
but once is God named distinctly as Father (Isaias 
lxiii. 16), and then only of the race of Israel, not 
of each one personally ; though oftener called Father 
as a figure of speech (Psalm cii. 13). The Incar- 
nation of the Son of God has made the divine father- 
hood the personal heritage of every member of the 
human race "who is born not of blood, nor of the 
will of the flesh, nor of man, but of God." And this 
Father is of the heavens, an eternal Father, an all 
powerful Father, all wise, all loving. 

The Lord's Prayer, after this opening salutation to 
the Heavenly Father, is divided into a first group of 
three petitions, embodying what we crave from God 
strictly as His children — as if earnestly seeking our 
Father's honor in Heaven above and on earth below. 
The second group, also of three petitions, concerns our 
personal needs. These are all permeated by the spirit 
of the introductory phrase, our Father : childlike con- 
fidence in God and loving brotherhood with man. 
The whole Gospel of Christ is against self-glory, self- 
interest, self-will, and self-indulgence ; that Gospel is 
summarized in the petitions of the Lord's Prayer. 

"Hallowed be Thy Name," is a prayer for God's 
glory. As the Apostles and disciples gazed upon 
Jesus, and heard Him say this word, they remembered 
the many times He had referred to His Father as the 
source of all His life. He was the Father's man 
totally, the Father's choice for Messias, the Father's 
echo for doctrine ; and they had begun to understand 
the wonderful truth that He was actually the Father's 



438 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

other self. Such a being could but be absorbed in 
advancing the glory of the Father's name. To be 
like Christ is to be God's man totally, God's choice 
for ever)^ vocation of life, the Father's echo for word 
and teaching, and made one with the Father through 
adoption of Sonship in Jesus Christ. Where, then, is 
the room for self glor}^ ? 

" Thy Kingdom come," is a prayer for the Church 
or family of God. The Church is the extension of 
the Son of God into the open life of men so as the 
better to honor the Heavenly Father publicly, and to 
save men privately and one by one. The Kingdom 
of God is in Heaven, where He reigns with His angels; 
it is also within each soul, for He has His throne- 
room in our consciences. These two kingdoms re- 
quire a medium, a junction upon earth. Men need a 
novitiate for the eternal kingdom above ; and they also 
need an outward guarantee for the validity of the 
inner kingdom of inspiration and of conscience. The 
Apostles, as they repeated this prayer after our Lord 
and learned it by heart, knew that He had constituted 
them princes of His public spiritual kingdom, that 
He had made it a true incorporated society. Men are 
made to be taught, and He who so made them makes 
His Church their school and His Apostles and their 
successors their teachers. Men are made for fellow- 
ship, and He who so made them has given them a 
fellowship, a brotherhood. The school of Christ and 
His brotherhood is His Church. Man}' a time has 
He spoken of its power and holiness, and of these 
Apostles as its ministry, and often will He do so again 
in yet more emphatic terms. He who prays with the 
brethren for God's kingdom prays for His Church. 

" Thy will be done o?i earth as it is in Heaven." 
This is what Christ is for — to do the will of His Father 



THE LORD'S PR A YER. 439 

and our Father. This is what His Church is for — to 
help us to be like Christ in doing the will of His 
Father and ours. That will is all powerful, yet it 
is so bent towards us by a father's love that He 
conditions it upon our loving acceptance ; and its 
triumph upon our prayer and co-operation. When we 
use the word w/// we mean intention, motive, purpose, 
design. This clause of the Iyord's Prayer takes God's 
will as it is the one rule of Paradise, and would 
impose it for all time upon all the motives, intentions, 
purposes, and designs of the heart of every man. It 
is the divine and human life made one. We pray 
that we may so mean to act and so will to act that 
we shall obey Christ with the instinctive obedience 
of the angels who minister to Him. To live by the 
instinct of the Holy Spirit is to have the will of God 
reign in us on earth as it does in Heaven. 

These are the divine petitions of the prayer — to 
have God known as our Father, honored and obeyed 
as the one Heavenly Master, by all men on earth as 
He is by all angels and saints in heaven. Then fol- 
low the human petitions These deal with the ob- 
stacles to man's union with God, and the human 
means for its attainment. 

"Give us this day our daily bread." Here is incul- 
cated, as we at once perceive, the complete abandon- 
ment of the Christian to God's providence. For his 
human wants no less than for divine grace, for his 
food, clothing, shelter, and that of those whom he 
loves, he must rely wholly upon God. One day's 
provision is enough to ask for ; it is the only day 
we have : as to the next one, we know it is to be the 
gift of the same loving Father who gave this ; let it 
be wholly His gift, not even suggested to Him. No 
day begins before its own first hour. When that 



440 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

strikes I will begin to pray for the present day's 
wants. God will look to the wants of the future. 
The Christian must learn how to profit by the sacra- 
ment of the present moment. What is more than this 
is yearning for empty futurity, or regret for the dead 
past. We may beg God's favor in general terms for 
the future, or, most submissively, for particular needs, 
especially of a spiritual kind. But sufficient for the 
day is the evil thereof. 

' ' Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who 
trespass against us." This is a way of bargaining with 
God. By it we give Him evidence of our love for His 
own favorite attribute, mercy to sinners, that "which 
is above all His works." It is also an imprecation of 
the divine wrath upon ourselves in case we are hard- 
hearted to those who have done us wrong. How fell 
a dignity is here given to human hate, since of all 
the vices it alone is distinctly named by our Lord as 
the hindrance to divine pardon ; and its opposite, the 
virtue of easy forgiveness, is stamped as the true coin 
to offer as our own ransom. Those who know men 
best will bear witness that avarice, which is the 
opposite of the prayer for daily bread, and unwill- 
ingness to forgive injuries received, which is the 
opposite of the profession in the succeeding petition, 
are vices which if outranked by such crimes as blas- 
phemy, or sacrilege, or lust, are }^et gangrened with 
a poison more quickly assimilated by the soul than 
any other. Meantime the Creator will not be outdone 
in generosity by His creature. Whosoever is quick 
to pardon, soon becomes a beneficiary of Heaven for 
every favor he may beg. 

" And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 
evil. Amen." This is but one petition. The word 
and at the beginning and but in the middle show 



THE LORD'S PRA YER. 



441 



this. It is a note of self-warning and a prayer for 
preservation. The weakness of our nature, known 
from bitter experience, is able to cry to God for as- 
sistance, not frantically, nor yet presumptuously, but 
calmly and courageously. Saint Philip Neri's morn- 
ing prayer contained this petition: "Lord, keep Thy 
hand upon Philip this day, or Philip will betray Thee." 
If the saints are self-distrustful, it is because they 
know human nature, and take the conclusion of the 
Lord's Prayer in the practical sense. 

What a masterpiece is this divine prayer ! Who 
ever composed a song or made a statue whose beauty 
wears like that of this simple prayer ? How well it 
shows the harmony of human and divine things in the 
great soul of Jesus ! It places us with God at the 
side of Jesus as God's children, and it brings God 
down to us with Jesus as our loving 
Father and Redeemer. To say this 
prayer rightly and frequently is 
always to be consciously elevated 
in spirit, and to be confident that 
in want or peril God our Lord is 
not far from us. 

A beautiful illustration closes this 
great lesson of prayer, showing the 
worth of eagerness and persistence 
in our petitions to our Heavenly 
Father. Importunity offends men 
and pleases God, so different is 
God's generosity from man's. 

There is a touching simplicity in the six-fold repeti- 
tion of the promise to answer prayer. Thus men act 
with their little children. When they promise more than 
the little ones have dreamed of receiving, they must 
tell it over again and again before they are believed. 



IMPORTUNATE PRAYER. 

And he said to them : Which of you shall 
have a friend, and shall go to him at mid- 
night, and shall say to him : Friend, lend 
me three loaves. Because a friend of mine 
is come off his journey to me, and I have 
not what to set before him. And he from 
within should answer and say : Trouble me 
not, the door is now shut, and my children 
are with me in bed ; I cannot rise and give 
thee. Yet if he shall continue knocking, I 
say to you, although he will not rise and give 
him, because he is his friend ; yet because 
of his importunity he will rise, and give 
him as many as he needeth. And I say to 
you, Ask, and it shall be given you : seek, 
and you shall find : knock, and it shall 
be opened to you. For every one that 
asketh, receiveth : and he that seeketh, 
findeth : and to him that knocketh, it shall 
be opened. 



442 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Jesus concludes with a solution of a difficulty, that 
of unanswered prayer. No prayer really remains un- 
answered ; but if one asks God for what would hurt 
him, he receives instead what would help him, though 
he may not see it in that way. Many a one prays 
to be released from pain whose very salvation depends 
on patience in suffering: "And which of you if he 
ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? or a 
fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he 
shall ask an egg, will he reach him a scorpion ? If 
you then being evil, know how to give good gifts 
to your children, how much more will your Father 
from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask 
Him?" 

Our good Father will not only hear our prayers, 
but He will set them right, discover for us our own 
best mind, give it the truest expression by the in- 
spiration of His Spirit, and then grant more than 
we have asked. He is surely the best judge in select- 
ing the time and all other circumstances which will 
serve us best. 

Thus passed two happy months, between the Feast 
of Tabernacles in September and that of the Dedica- 
tion of the Temple in December. They must have 
been among the happiest of the Master's public life. 
He was near a welcome solitude for prayer and con- 
templation and communion with the celestial spirits 
on Mount Olivet ; He was close to Bethany, where the 
two holy sisters, Mary and Martha, could entertain 
Him and His Apostles in a home of all cheerfulness 
and affection ; and He was ever free to instruct His 
disciples privately either in that house, or by the 
pleasant wayside or walking in the fields. Mean- 
time He did not shrink from contemplating His ap- 
proaching death. The hills and valleys were brown 



THE LORD'S PR A YER. 443 

with the autumnal decay which told Him that His 
earthly life was drawing to its close, and this quickened 
His purpose to complete His teaching. His Father's 
providence held off His enemies, who, besides, were 
quieted by His own intermission of miracles, which 
were always calculated to enrage the Pharisees. 
Excursions were often made by the Master and His 
disciples into the surrounding country, and the people 
drawn together and instructed. 

St. Luke gives us many of our Lord's discourses 
spoken at this time, most of them almost exact 
repetitions of those delivered in Galilee the year 
before and related in St. Matthew's Gospel. 

St. Luke also inserts in this part of his narra- 
tive various other teachings, without saying when 
or where they were delivered. It was a custom of 
Jesus to repeat His discourses in different places, 
using even the same words, doing so even in the 
same places upon returning again to them. This 
deepened the impression upon the people's minds, and 
made their knowledge of His doctrine more accurate. 
It also gave every one fully to understand that He 
had a stated system of teaching, simple and readily 
known, but also exact, and that His purpose was 
that all should accurately possess themselves of it. 
Furthermore, this custom imparted to His Apostles 
in a thoroughly practical way both the doctrine and 
the way to teach it. They could not but become 
proficient after hearing over and over again the same 
rules of conduct laid down in almost verbal repeti- 
tion, the same principles of faith, and the same out- 
lines of their organization as a Church. Our Saviour 
by this means wrote His Gospel on their memories 
in deep and unmistakable' characters. It was thus 
that He was the author of that oral Gospel which 



444 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

alone was used by the Church for many years after 
the Holy Spirit had been breathed upon it, and 
which still remains the substance and fulness of 
the revelation of Christ, holding within it the written 
Gospel supplied in a subsequent inspiration of the 
Evangelists by the Holy Spirit. 



CHAPTER LXV. 

THE WATCHFUL SERVANTS. — THE THIEF IN THE NIGHT. 

Luke xii. 35-56. 

According to our Saviour, the true antidote to 
the fear of death is a constant fitness to die. For 
what is dreadful in death ? The accounting to the 
Judge which instantly follows ; the settlement of an 
eternal fate. Other than this there is in death only 
pain of body and loss of earthly joys. Now, pain 
worse than death is often endured for a silly point 
of honor or for love of money ; and earthly joys 
are, in the spiritual life, like intoxication, lowering 
our level of existence and always followed by reaction. 
All this the Master taught His Apostles ; and for 
nothing do we thank Him more affectionately than 
for His help to resist the awful dread of death : 
"Let your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your 
hands. And you yourselves like to men who wait 
for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding : 
that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open 
to him immediately. Blessed are those servants 
whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watch- 
ing. Amen I say to you,' that He will gird Him- 
self, and make them sit down to meat, and passing 
will minister unto them. And if He shall come in the 
second watch, or come in the third watch, and find 



THE WATCHFUL SERVANTS. 



445 



them so, blessed are those servants. But this know 
ye, that if the householder did know at what hour 
the thief would come, he would surely watch, and 
would not suffer his house to be broken open. Be 
you, then, also ready : for at what hour you think 
not the Son of Man will come." 

It seems that the foregoing lesson had been given 
to the Apostles when alone with Jesus, for Peter 
asked: " Lord, dost Thou speak this parable to us, 
or likewise to all?" Doubtless to all, both as to 
watchfulness and its recompense. But it was in- 
tended in an especial manner for those who shall 
stand for the Lord by their office, or by high posi- 
tion of any kind. Such are parents, the clergy, 
civil leaders and rulers of the peo- 
ple, and the rich. Office-holding in 
church or state or family is a bur- 
den of responsibility, therefore a 
gift of grace to bear the burden and 
strictness of accountability. The 
Apostles needed this lesson of hu- 
mility, too often forgotten by men 
and women in high places. 

He added a frank statement of 
what it would mean to be an Apos- 
tle, and even to be an obscure fol- 
lower of the Lord. It meant, to be- 
gin with, three hundred years of in- 
describably cruel persecution ; and 
in all succeeding ages it has meant 
an incessant struggle of reason 
against rebellious appetite, of faith 
against pride of opinion, of meekness against world- 
liness. The Apostles, naturally enough, would have 
chosen a peaceful career as teachers and as foun- 



WATCHFUL SERVANTS. 

And the Lord said : Who (thinkest thou) 
is the faithful and wise steward, whom his 
lord setteth over his family, to give them 
theii measure of wheat in due season ? 
Blessed is that servant, whom when his 
lord shall come he shall find so doing. 
Verily 1 say to you, he will set him over 
all that he possesseth. But if that servant 
shall say in his heart, My lord is long 
a coming ; and shall begin to strike the 
men-servants and maid-servants, and to 
eat and to drink, and be drunk: The lord 
of that servant will come in the day that 
he hopeth not, and at the hour that he 
knoweth not, and shall separate him, and 
shall appoint him his portion with un- 
believers. And that servant who knew 
the will of his lord, and prepared not him- 
self, and did not according to his will, 
shall be beaten with many stripes. But he 
that knew not and did things worthy of 
stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. 
And unto whomsoever much is given, of 
him much shall be required : and to whom 
they have committed much, of him they 
will demand the more. 



\ 



446 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

ders. But the L,ord tells of fire and sword — yes, and 
He even longs for the struggle to begin : "I am 
come to cast fire on the earth ; and what will I but 
that it be kindled ? And I have a baptism, where- 
with I am to be baptized : 
and how am I straitened 



until it be accomplished. 
Think ye that I am come 
to give peace on earth ? 

I tell you no, but separa- 
tion. For there shall be 
from henceforth five in 
one house divided ; three 
against two, and two 
against three. The father 
shall be divided against the 
son, and the son against 
his father, the mother 
against the daughter, and 
the daughter against the 
mother, the mother-in-law 
against her daughter-in- 
law, and the daughter-in- 
law against her mother-in- 
law." 

Our Saviour's words, 

II and how am I straitened 
until it be accomplished," 




Shall separate him, and shall appoint him his 
portion with unbelievers." 



were a sigh of anticipation of His Passion. He was 
glad to suffer for us ; He was eager to begin the 
ordeal ; but it was a baptism of blood which it wrung 
His very soul to think of. 

And why did not the multitude who followed 
Him appreciate this ? He had told them over and 
over again that He must be tormented and put to 



A T THE FEAS T OF THE DEDICA TION. 447 

death. Yet they as often forgot it. Could they not 
see it impending in the persecution He suffered from 
the Jewish authorities ? Had not John the Baptist 
been put to death ? Were not the Pharisees at that 
moment plainly conspiring for the Master's d ath ? 
Could they not see all this and make ready to en- 
dure it, learn how to endure it, from Him ? They 
could read the fickle signs of change in the weather 
better than the evident future of His career: "And 
He said also to the multitudes : When you see a 
cloud rising from the west, presently you say : A 
shower is coming ; and so it happeneth : And when 
ye see the south wind blow, you say : There will be 
heat ; and it cometh to pass. You rrypocrites, you 
know how to discern the face of the heaven and of 
the earth : but how is it that you do not discern this 
time? " 



CHAPTER LXVI. 

JESUS AT THE FEAST OF THE DEDICATION OF THE 
TEMPEE. — HE AGAIN TEACHES THAT HE IS GOD. 

lohn x. 22-42. 

The feast of the Dedication of the Temple had 
been instituted by Judas Machabeus when he had 
defeated the Syrians ; it was designed to commemo- 
rate the purification of the Temple after six years 
of profanation under Antiochus Kpiphanes. To cele- 
brate this feast, it was not necessary to be in the 
city, but Jesus chose to return there to teach more 
publicly and defiantly, having in mind to proclaim 
His divinity at least in such terms as would advance 
the knowledge of that stupendous truth one step 
further towards its final and complete understanding. 



448 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

As He returned from His two months' stay at and 
near Bethany, and from those excursions which had 
Bethany for their point of departure, the winter season 
was well advanced ; the feast of the Dedication was 
celebrated towards the end of December. The Master 
therefore took His stand in Solomon's Porch, which 
was protected from the winter's cold, being at the 
eastern extremity of the edifice. It was a part of 
the ruins of the second Temple, not yet rebuilt. The 
second Temple was the work of the remnant of Israel 
that returned under Zorobabel from the Babylonian 
captivity. Their Temple was afterwards destroyed and 
the one built by Herod the Great had taken its 
place. The Porch of Solomon showed such vast- 
ness in its very ruins that it was thought to be a 
fragment of the original Temple built by Israel's most 
splendid and pacific monarch. Solomon's Porch over- 
looked the valley of Josaphat. 

Our Saviour " walked in the Temple in Solomon's 
Porch. The Jews therefore came round about Him, 
and said to Him : How long dost Thou hold our 
souls in suspense ? If Thou be the Christ, tell us 
plainly." Now it is quite likely that some, if not 
many, of those who had gathered about Jesus were 
half-hearted converts. They longed to possess Him, 
but they wanted Him on their own terms. On His 
part, however, absolute faith was the essential pre- 
liminary. If they believed in God the Father, so 
must they believe in His Son, Jesus of Nazareth. 
He stood for God, and God by His miracles stood 
by Him. Whatever the Christ, the Messias, may 
do or not do, He demands faith to begin with, such 
trust and obedience and simple-hearted adhesion as 
He had indicated by the comparison of sheep and 
shepherd. "Jesus answered them: I speak to you 



HE AGAIN TEACHES THA T HE IS GOD. 449 

and you believe not ; the works that I do in the 
name of My Father, they give testimony of Me. 
But you do not believe, because you are not of My 
sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, 
and they follow Me." 

If He had said : My soldiers hear My word of 
command and they follow Me, He would have gained 
His audience to a man. If His miracles were to aid 
in recruiting for a holy war against the pagans and 
apostates who ruled Israel, Jesus would have had 
a powerful army in a day. But the warlike race of 
Israel hated to think that wisdom and miracles should 
be wasted in making stalwart men as meek as sheep. 
Wisdom they loved and miracles they admired, but 
the passion of their lives was hatred of the oppressor 
and ambition for national glory. Could they not 
see that to give the true religion, to give eternal 
salvation to the whole world, was a nobler destiny 
than to slay multitudes in battle and win a bloody 
pre-eminence ? 

Jesus insisted on His religious gift to men: "I 
give them life everlasting, and they shall not perish 
for ever, and no man shall pluck them out of My 
hand." And now He rises higher: the superemi- 
nent gift of God is eternal life ; Jesus has it, and 
He has it to dispense to others. Nor is He related 
to the Father in this as the Jews are to Him, the 
people to their Christ : the Father and the Son are 
one: "That which My Father hath given Me, is 
greater than all, and no one can snatch them out 
of the hand of My Father. I and the Father are 
one." Identity of will, interests, even of being, was 
plainly taught by this. 

The effect was magical. Instantly His outright 
enemies sprang forward from the crowd : they would 



450 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

put Him to the proof. As if to say : " L,et us try if 
this Man-God can stand against stones." Foaming 
with fury, "they took up stones to stone Him." But 
the eye of Jesus held them down ; it was like a palsy 
on their limbs. Calmly He gazed upon them, and 
with steady voice played with them in an argument 
kindred to their own hair-splitting refinements in ■ 
interpreting Scripture. First He forced them, by an 
ironical question, to state His crime: "Many good 
works I have showed you from My Father ; for which 
of those works do you stone Me?" The answer is 
a striking one. It was designedly drawn from them 
by Jesus, that we might clearly know that His very 
enemies understood Him to claim divinity. "The j 
Jews answered Him : For a good work we stone I 
Thee not, but for blasphemy, and because that Thou, 
being a man, makest Thyself God." Upon which the 
Master shows how He could confute them, if He ! 
willed to adopt their style of Scripture interpretation : 
"Is it not written in your law, I said you are gods? 
If He called them gods to whom the word was J 
spoken — and the Scripture cannot be broken — do you 
say of Him whom the Father hath sanctified and I 
sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I \ 
said I am the Son of God ? ' ' 

It was as if to say, Take My words at least as 
a mystery. In themselves they are not wholly novel. 
Whatever they mean must be true, though you can- 
not yet fully know what it is. Accept Me and My 
Father as your Teacher. He continued : " If I do 
not the works of My Father, believe Me not. But 
if I do, though you will not believe Me, believe the 
works." The meaning was plain to a humble heart. 
The Great Jehovah was represented by Jesus Christ, 
and, mystery or no mystery, He must be uncondi- 



HE AGAIN TEACHES THA T HE IS GOD. 451 

tionally accepted. " Believe the works," insisted the 
Master, "that you may know," — know what? At 
this point He reasserts the foundation truth of His 
religion, His divine personality: "that you may 
know that the Father is in Me, and I in the 
Father." 

" And I in the Father." The assertion of divinity 
could not be plainer. If Jesus said, "I am God," 
they might answer, Then Thou art not man. But 
He was as much bound to assert His humanity as to 
teach His divinity. Also, He must affirm the triune 
personality of the Deity. The Trinity must be taught, 
and that needed a careful distinction in stating His 
relation to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Bear 
the Humanity of Christ and the Trinity of God in 
mind, and you perceive here and elsewhere how ab- 
solute and complete is Christ's teaching of His 
divinity. 

"And I in the Father." If He had been nothing 
but man, He could say truthfully, "The Father is 
in Me"; but it was impossible for Him truthfully 
to say, "The Father is in Me and I am in the 
Father," without being of one nature and essence 
with the eternal God. This explains the boldness 
of His usual form of laying down a divine precept : 
" But /say to you." How different from the prophets, 
whose formula was, "Thus saith the L,ord." Jesus 
is that I^ord and speaks for Himself. 

" They sought therefore to take Him, and He 
escaped out of their hands." He had fulfilled His 
purpose. He had added another, a different, a most 
unequivocal statement of His being and His office to 
those already made. As He departed He left His 
secret prohibition upon their angry souls, so that they 
could not hurt or hinder Him. Meantime He had 



452 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

won over some of the more courageous and generous 
spirits: "And He went again beyond the Jordan, 
into that place where John was baptizing first, and 
there He abode. And many resorted to Him, and 
the) r said: John indeed did no sign, but all things 
whatsoever John said of this Man were true. And 
many believed in liim." 



CHAPTER LXVII. 

HYPOCRISY. — "WOE TO YOU PHARISEES!" 

Luke xi. 37-53 > and xii. 1-12. 

Going along the road towards the Jordan, Jesus 
passed through Bethany, and thence towards the 
head of the Dead Sea, leaving Jericho to the left, 
journeying along a road well known to Him and His 
company. He desired to place the river Jordan be- 
tween Him and Jerusalem, the focus of all His ene- 
mies. He was leaving the city for the last time 
before His return to be put to death. 

He preached publicly and discoursed privately dur- 
ing the journey, and after passing the river sys- 
tematically instructed the people, who as usual 
thronged out of their homes to hear Him. St. John 
says that He had many believers, attributable very 
likely to the memories of the Baptist, who had done 
most of his preaching in that vicinity. St. Luke, 
who gives us more details than does St. John of 
this stay of Jesus in the Perea, as the country 
beyond the Jordan was named, relates that the Saviour 
on one occasion fell into a hostile, or semi-hostile, 
company of Scribes and Pharisees. Some of them 
had, perhaps, followed Him from the city. At any 
rate one of their leaders invited Him, seemingly with 



HYPOCRISY. 



453 



not the worst motives, curiosity 
predominating, to dine with him. 

The old trouble arose : "A cer- 
tain Pharisee prayed Him that He 
would dine with him. And He go- 
ing in sat down to eat. And the 
Pharisee began to say, thinking 
within himself, why He was not 
washed before dinner." They had 
watched Him. Their very souls 
were set upon these observances, 
wholly without warrant in the law 
of Moses, and forming a set of rules 
as irksome to keep by ordinary 
mortals as they were delightful to 
enforce by such religious drill ser- 
geants as the Pharisees, many of 
whom were secretly the most abomi- 
nable sinners. Our Saviour's re- 
buke was instant. He compared 
them to the dirty dishes upon the table after the 
feast: "Now you Pharisees make clean the outside 
of the cup and of the platter, but your inside is full 
of rapine and iniquity. Ye fools, did not He that 
made that which is without make also that which is 
within?" The admonition was especially addressed, 
it would seem from what followed, to certain usurers 
among the Pharisees. To all present the Master point- 
ed out an external observance which would crowd 
out of sight every other, the holy duty of alms-giving : 
1 ' But [consider] that which remaineth [undone] ; give 
alms, and behold all things are clean unto you." 

How terrible a contrast is drawn in the succeeding 
words! These extortioners ground contributions out 
of the people down to a tenth part of the little herbs 



HOW ALL THINGS MAY BE MADE CLEAN. 

And as he was speaking a certain Phari- 
see prayed him that he would dine with 
him. And he going in sat down to eat. 
And the Pharisee began to say, thinking 
within himself, why he was not washed 
before dinner. And the Lord said to him : 
Now you Pharisees make clean the outside 
of the cup and of the platter, but your 
inside is full of rapine and iniquity. Ye 
fools, did not He that made that which is 
without make also that which is within ? 
But yet that which remaineth ; give alms, 
and behold, all things are clean unto you. 
But woe to you Pharisees, because you 
tithe mint, and rue, and every herb, and 
pass over judgment and the charity of 
God. Now these things you ought to 
have done, and not to leave the other un- 
done. Woe to you Pharisees, because you 
love the uppermost seats in the synagogues 
and salutations in the market-place. Woe 
to you because you are as sepulchres that 
appear not, and men that walk over are 
not aware. And one of the lawyers an- 
swering, said to him : Master, in saying 
these things thou reproachest us also. 
But he said : Woe to you lawyers «also, be- 
cause you load men with burdens which 
they cannot bear, and you yourselves touch 
not the packs with one of your fingers. 




" You load men with 
burdens." 



454 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

of the kitchen garden, and all this under pretence of 
religion, while their own very souls were hardened 
with uncharity : " Woe to you Pharisees, because you 
tithe mint, and rue, and every herb, and pass over 
judgment and the charity of God." If the payment 
of tithes should be fully observed, or even minutely, 
how much rather the primary law of brotherly love. 

1 ' Now these 
things you 
ought to have 
done, and not 
to leave the 
other u n- 
done." 

Jesus add- 
ed a rebuke to 
the notorious 
pride of His 
fellow-guests, 
their assump- 
tion of supe- 
riority even 
in divine wor- 
ship and in public intercourse with the people: 
"Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the up- 
permost seats in the synagogues and salutations in 
the market-place. Woe to you because you are as 
sepulchres that appear not, and men that walk over 
are not aware." 

We may imagine the effect of these fearless accusa- 
tions. One of the Scribes — lawyers the narrative calls 
them — found His voice after the first shock had passed, 
and protested : "Master, in saying these things Thou 
reproachest us also. But He said : Woe to you 
lawyers also, because you load men with burdens 




A WHITED SEPULCHRE. 



i 



"WOE TO YOU PHARISEES! 



455 




You tithe mint, 



which they cannot bear, and you yourselves touch 
not the packs with one of your ringers." The Scribes 
being the legal advisers of the Pharisees, shared their 
guilt because they twisted the law of Moses into con- 
formity with their clients' wishes. In fact, the condi- 
tion of Israel in our Saviour's day recalled the most 
disastrous eras of her history, when the prophets of 
God were put to death by God's own people, and 
when to honor God meant to rebel against the priest- 
hood, — the times of Elias, Jeremias, and the Machabees. 
Those heroes were held in honor by these very men 
who were now hounding the Son of God to His death. 
Jesus continued: " Woe to you who build the monu- 
ments of the prophets ; and your fathers killed them. 
Truly you bear witness that you consent to the doings 
of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and you 
build their sepulchres. For this cause also the wisdom 
of God said : I will send to them prophets and apos- an( j rue, and every 
ties, and some of them they will kill and persecute- herb, and pass over 
That the blood of all the prophets which was shed ^kyof God."*"* 
from the foundation of the world, may be required 
of this generation. From the blood of Abel unto the 
blood of Zacharias, who was slain between the altar 
and the Temple. Yea I say to you, it shall be re- 
quired of this generation. Woe to you lawyers, for 
you have taken away the key of knowledge : you 
yourselves have not entered in, and those that were 
entering in you have hindered." 

Having thus poured forth His indignation, Jesus 
arose from the table and took His departure. He 
was closely followed by His enemies. At every dis- 
course they lay in wait to interrupt, to entrap Him, 
to force Him into some expression which would en- 
tangle Him with the Roman authorities. "And as 
He was saying these things to them, the Pharisees 



456 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




Woe to you 
Pharisees." 



and the lawyers began vehemently to urge Him, and 
to oppress His mouth about many things, lying in 
wait for Him, and seeking to catch something from 
His mouth, that they might accuse Him." He stood 
His ground. He gave them more than they bargained 
for. Especially He thundered against that one most 
hateful sin of all to Him, the sin which has caught a 
new name from these memorable struggles, Pharisaism 
— the detestable vice of hypocrisy. Jesus called it 
the very intoxication of the Pharisee's soul: "And 
when great multitudes stood about Him, so that they 
trod one upon another, He began to say to His dis- 
ciples : Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, 
which is hypocrisy." He threatens hypocrites with 
the penalty they most mortally dread, discovery : 
" For there is nothing covered which shall not be 
revealed, nor hidden that shall not be known. For 
whatsoever things you have spoken in darkness, shall 
be published in the light, and that which you have 
spoken in the ear in the chambers, shall be preached 
on the housetops." 

What, we may inquire, was the effect of all this 
upon the disciples ? What were they to think of the 
conspiracies and plots and attempts at violence, the 
threats and denunciations against Jesus, the wild 
storm beginning to rage now in the Perea as it had 
done so long in Galilee and in Jerusalem? What 
would be the end ? He would not fight : how then 
was He, how were they, to escape ? He could raise 
the dead, He could terrify and drive before Him the 
very devils, but He would not call the people to arms, 
the people who on this very occasion, as St. L,uke 
tells us, were treading upon one another in their 
eagerness to see their great Prophet, to hear His life- 
giving voice. Was Jesus to leave them — to say noth- 



"WOE TO YOU PHARISEES: 



457 



ing of Himself — to be torn to pieces 
by the paid assassins of the Phari- 
sees ? Jesus read their thoughts. 
He did not blench from the ordeal ; 
He called them to death and not to 
victory, or rather to victory only 
through death. Even more : He 
insisted that such was God's plan of 
campaign. Let them be true to 
God and fear no man. If God 
seemed to forget them, it was only 
in the seeming ; it was only neces- 
sary to think of His loving provi- 
dence, which overruled the life and death of the little 
birds who chirped above their heads in the branches 
of the trees. Nor did He stop at this. Having weigh- 
ed the reasonableness of their fears in the balance of 
His Father's love and found them wanting, He sol- 
emnly stood forth Himself as their surety : ' ' And I 
say to you, whosoever shall confess Me before men, 
him shall the Son of Man also confess before the 
angels of God. But he that shall deny Me before 
men, shall be denied before the angels of God." 



WHOM TO FEAR. 

And I say to you, my friends : Be not 
afraid of them who kill the body, and after 
that have no more that they can do. But 
I will shew you whom ye shall fear : fear 
ye him, who after he hath killed, hath 
power to cast into hell. Yea, I say to you, 
fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for 
two farthings, and not one of them is for- 
gotten before God ? Yea, the very hairs of 
your head are all numbered. Fear not, 
therefore ; you are of more value than 
many sparrows. And I say to you, whoso- 
ever shall confess me before men, him shall 
the Son of Man also confess before the 
angels of God. But he that shall deny me 
before men, shall be denied before the 
angels of God. 




458 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

CHAPTER LXVIII. 

" WHO HATH APPOINTED MK JUDGE OR DIVIDER 
OVER YOU?" — COVETOUSNESS. 

Luke xii. 13-21. 

As Jesus ceased His discourse a harsh note of 
worldliness was heard : ' ' One of the multitude said 
to Him, Master, speak to my brother that he divide 
the inheritance with me?" Now, this was a matter 
for the civil courts to decide, not to be intruded into 
the religious teaching of Jesus. Fairness with one's 
brother in dividing the family inheritance is, indeed, 
a religious duty, but for the decision of practical 
cases God has appointed the secular authority. 
If this man had asked Jesus to settle a family 
feud, or even to heal an infirm brother, he would 
have gained his purpose. But it was not the 
Heavenly Father's will that His Son should come 
on earth to set up a tribunal for the settlement 
of land titles or similar matters. So Jesus an- 
swered severely: "Man, who hath appointed Me 
judge or divider over you?" 
"Whose shall those Furthermore, our Saviour's eye penetrated the 

things be which thou . , ,,. .... T , . ,, 

hast provided." motive of this petitioner. It was avarice ; the man 

feared the civil court for the reason that he coveted 
his brother's rightful portion. Upon which, therefore, 
the Master added a deeper shade to His rebuke. 
Turning to the multitude He said most gravely : 
" Take heed of all covetousness, for a man's life 
does not consist in the abundance of the things 
which he possesseth." Herein the Divine Teacher 
sets His face squarely against the views and cus- 
toms of the mass of mankind. Money is not only 
a token of value representing things needful to life, 




CO VETO USNESS. 459 

as food and drink ; money is wrongly made a token 
of the value of men and women. They are graded 
by " what they are worth." No antagonism is deadlier 
than that of Christ's spirit against the rule of money, 
so often dominating both poor and rich. If men 
are poor, even though not in want, yet they are 
devoured with anxiety to get money to hoard. If men 
are rich, the one passion of life is 
to become richer. On the contrary, 
the true Christian looks to Provi- 
dence for the much or little he 
needs, labors mainly for God's sake 
and to serve his family's reasonable 
wants, and if distressed by mis- 
fortune is yet not overthrown. Our 
Saviour now uttered one of His 
most famous parables to illustrate 
who is poor and who is rich ' ■ to- 
wards God." 

Terrible words: "Thou Fool! 



" THOU FOOL! " 

And he spoke a similitude to them, say- 
ing : The land of a certain rich man 
brought forth plenty of fruits. And he 
thought within himself, saying : What 
shall I do, because I have no room where 
to bestow my fruits ? And he said : This 
will I do: I will pull down my barns, and 
will build greater : and into them will I 
gather all things that are grown to me, and 
my goods. And I will say to my soul : 
Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for 
many years, take thy rest, eat, drink, 
make good cheer. But God said to him : 
Thou fool, this night do they require thy 
soul of thee ; and whose shall those things 
be which thou hast provided ? So is he 
that layeth up treasure for himself, and is 
not rich towards God. 



This night do they require thy soul of thee ! ' ' That 
soul had become like a field whose fertile soil has 
been monopolized by weeds. It is now before God, 
naked, barren, and fruitless for ever. Of all the vices 
none exhausts the spirit of man more fatally with its 
absorbing intensity than love of money. Against no 
vice did Jesus speak more earnestly than against 
that of avarice. 



460 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



HEALING 



CHAPTER LXIX. 

THE INFIRM WOMAN ON THE 
DAY. — THE DROPSICAL MAN. 



SABBATH- 



Luke xiii, 



and xiv. 1-6. 



10-17, 

Entrance to the synagogues was not denied 
our Saviour in the Perea ; the land beyond the Jordan 
was not so quickly aroused against Him as parts 
nearer the city. But the Sabbatarian sentiment of 
the Jews was well developed there, nor can we sup- 
pose that any part of Palestine had been quite exempt 
from the intrigues of the conspirators. Hence the 
following incidents, the account ot which is almost a 
verbal repetition of similar ones which had taken 
place in far-off Galilee. Jesus, while preaching in a 
synagogue, was touched with pity at the sight of a 
poor woman bent double with an in- 
firmity which the Devil's spell had 
imposed on her. Without solicita- 
tion our Saviour healed her, and 
thereupon He must fight the Sab- 
batarians. 

" And it came to pass, when 
Jesus went into the house of one 
of the chief of the Pharisees on the 
Sabbath-day, to eat bread, that 
they watched Him. And behold 
there was a certain man before Him 
that had the dropsy. And Jesus 
answering spoke to the lawyers and 
Pharisees, saying : Is it lawful to 
heal on the Sabbath-day ? But 
they held their peace. But He tak- 
ing him, healed him, and sent him 



MIRACLES ON THE SABBATH. 

And he was teaching in their synagogue 
on their Sabbath. And behold there was a 
woman who had a spirit of infirmity 
eighteen years : and she was bowed to- 
gether, neither could she look upwards at 
all. Whom when Jesus saw, he called her 
unto him, and said to her : Woman, thou 
art delivered from thy infirmity. And he 
laid his hands upon her, and immediately 
she was made straight, and glorified God. 
And the ruler of the synagogue (being 
angry that Jesus had healed on the Sab- 
bath), answering said to the multitude : 
Six days there are wherein you ought to 
work. In them therefore come, and be 
healed : and not on the Sabbath-day. 
And the Lord answering him, said : Ye 
hypocrites, doth not every one of you on 
the Sabbath-day loose his ox or his ass 
from the manger, and lead them to water ? 
And ought not this daughter of Abraham, 
whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen 
years, be loosed from this bond on the 
Sabbath-day ? And when he said these 
things, all his adversaries were ashamed : 
and all the people rejoiced for all the 
things that were gloriously done by him. 



HEALING ON THE SABBATH-DAY. 

away. And answering them, He said : 
Which of you shall have an ass or an ox 
fall into a pit, and will not immediately 
draw him out on the Sabbath-day. And 
they could not answer Him to these things." 

No wonder the people rejoiced at this 
coupling of charity to the unfortunate with 
stinging rebuke to the hard-hearted who 
could resist such an argument, — pointing 
out the incongruity of allowing the water- 
ing of a beast and prohibiting the healing 
of a daughter of Abraham on the Sabbath ; 
it was too striking a plea to be resisted, 
especially when advanced by the Wonder- 
Worker Himself. 

On that same day, or at any rate on another Sab- 
bath, one of the leading Pharisees invited Jesus to eat 
with him. His intentions seem to have been good, 
but it looks as if some evil-minded person had caused 
a dropsical man to be placed near by, that Jesus 
might again be involved in a Sabbatarian difficulty. 
Jesus this time took the offensive, asked them frankly 
if He could lawfully heal the poor man, got no an- 
swer but black looks, healed the man and sent him 
away rejoicing. 




Neither could she look up- 
wards at all." 



CHAPTER LXX. 



FIRST PLACES AT TABLE. — THE GREAT SUPPER : 
" COMPEL THEM TO COME IN." 

Luke xiv. 7-24. 

That our Saviour adjudged His host innocent of 
trickery in inviting Him to his table, seems probable 
from the fact that whereas He taught the guests who 
were present a very severe lesson, He gave only some 



462 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



EVERY ONE THAT EXALTETH 
SHALL BE HUMBLED. 



gentle advice to the host, namely, that he should 
remember the poor in preference even to his blood 
kindred. " He that exalteth himself shall be humbled, 
and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." If 
any university could teach us the full contents of 
that dogma of humility, it would be the favorite edu- 
cational institution of the Church militant, suffering, 
and triumphant. 

The admonition to His host — "when thou makest 
a feast, call the poor, the maimed, 
the lame, and the blind" — was 
given, probably, because our Lord 
perceived that he preferred the 
rich-: they could return the favor 
in kind, could invite him to their 
own banquets, and so motives would 
become debased on all sides ; how 



And he spoke a parable also to them 
that were invited, marking how they chose 
the first seats at the table, saying to them : 
When thou art invited to a wedding, sit 
not down in the first place, lest perhaps 
one more honorable than thou be invited 
by him ; and he that invited thee and him, 
come and say to thee, Give this man place : 
and then thou begin with shame to take 
the lowest place. But when thou art in- 
vited, go, sit down in the lowest place : 
that when he who invited thee cometh. he 
may say to thee : Friend, go up higher. 
Then shalt thou have glory before them 
that sit at table with thee. Because every 
one that exalteth himself, shall be humbled : 
and he that humbleth himself, shall be 
exalted. And he said to him also that 
had invited him : When thou makest a 
dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, 
nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor 
thy neighbors who are rich : lest perhaps 
they also invite thee again, and a recom- 
pense be made to thee. But when thou 
makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, 
the lame, and the blind. And thou shalt 
be blessed, because they have not where- 
with to make thee recompense : for recom- 
pense shall be made thee at the resurrec- 
tion of the just. 



much nobler to serve men according 
to their necessities, and for mere 
love, — for the golden coin of grati- 
tude ! 

A religiously-minded guest was 
caught by the closing sentence, 
"the resurrection of the just," and 
spoke of the eternal banquet of 
Paradise, thus giving occasion for 
the parable of the Great Supper. 
Needless to say that the Lord of 
that banquet is God, that the first 
guests invited are the Jews ; upon 
their refusing, the Gentiles are called in. Taking the 
parable in a broader sense, the first invited are the 
more intelligent, the so-called better born, the more 
wealthy ; these are too often accustomed to trifle 
with the call of God and of His Church to the service 



I THE GREA T SUPPER. 



463 



of Jesus Christ, and then their 
places are taken by outcasts ; civil- 
ized nations are displaced by hordes 
of barbarians, brutal sinners are 
converted in preference to more re- 
fined transgressors, till finally the 
purpose of God is accomplished, 
and His elect are saved. 

There are many lessons in this 
parable. Farms and oxen and wed- 
ding joys are politely offered as ex- 
cuses for neglecting the worship of 
the living God, for postponing re- 
pentance for filthy sin, for neglect- 
ing to train children in the divine 
law. Persuasion has been address- 
ed to all of these, the pampered 
favorites of this world. For the peo- 
ple in the cellars and garrets and in 
the swarming slums, for the half- 
starved peasants in ruined country 
places, for these spiritually "poor and feeble and blind 
and lame," little persuasion is needed. Go to them 
quickly, says the Master, and merely tell them the 
Glad Tidings, and they 
will come. Tell them of 
the equality of the divine 
love for men of all classes, 
tell them of the Holy Com- 
munion, of the sweet con- 
solation of a good confes- 
sion, of the faithful priest 
and the ministering Sister 
of Charity ; never mind -^ 

persuasion ; simply talk of " I pray thee hold me excused. 



"COMPEL THEM TO COME IN." 

When one of them that sat at table with 
him had heard these things, he said to 
him : Blessed is he that shall eat bread in 
the kingdom of God. But he said to him : 
A certain man made a great supper, and 
invited many. And he sent his servant at 
the hour of supper to say to them that 
were invited, that they should come, for 
now all things are ready. And they began 
all at once to make excuse. The first said 
to him, I have bought a farm, and I must 
needs go out and see it ; I pray thee, hold 
me excused. And another said, I have 
bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to try 
them : I pray thee, hold me excused. And 
another said, I have married a wife, and 
therefore I cannot come. And the servant 
returning told these things to his lord. 
Then the master of the house being angry, 
said to his servant : Go out quickly into 
the streets and lanes of the city, and bring 
in hither the poor and the feeble and the 
blind and the lame. And the servant 
said : Lord, it is done as thou hast com- 
manded, and yet there is room. And the 
lord said to the servant : Go out into the 
highways and hedges ; and compel them 
to come in, that my house may be filled. 
But I say unto you, that none of those 
men that were invited shall taste of my 
supper. 




464 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

these things, and of Paradise, and you will see them 
spring up and follow you in. Is there still room? 
Then take My unseen but resistless grace, and by 
its loving compulsion fill up every place ; bring in 
tramps and harlots, jail-birds and apostates, —compel 
them to come in. Never did monarch wear his baubles 
of crown and sceptre with the joy with which these 
outcasts will wear the fetters of My love and suffer 
the compulsion of My grace. 



CHAPTER LXXI. 

THE CHOSEN FEW. — THE SLAUGHTER OF THE GAEI- 
EEANS AND THE FAILING OF THE TOWER OF 
SIEOE. 

Luke xiii. 22-30, and xiii. 1-5. 

When St. Luke says that this question was dis- 
cussed by our Saviour while " making His journey 
to Jerusalem," he can hardly be taken to mean the 
final and direct return there, but he rather refers 
to a portion of that circuit of teaching through the 
cities and towns which is mentioned in the twenty- 
second verse of this thirteenth chapter, and which 
brought Him gradually back to the city. 

" A certain man said to Him : Lord, are they 
few that are saved ? ' ' Fortunately for us we can be 
saved without solving this difficulty, one of the 
most perplexing to theologians, and among the most 
hotly disputed. The Master did not answer directly. 
It is certain that only a small number adopt those 
means of salvation which make a happy death a 
moral certainty, and Jesus confined Himself to urging 
this upon His hearers ; ' l He said to them, Strive to 
enter by the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, 



THE CHOSEN FEW. 



465 



shall seek to enter and shall not be able." The 
word "many" may refer to that large class whose 
religion is but skin-deep, its truths lodging on the 
surface of their minds ; as to practical religion, it 
is with such persons chiefly a matter of family tradi- 
tion, of local association, and of name rather than 
of solid inner and outer conformity to God's will. 
And "when the master of the house shall be gone 
in, and shall shut to the door, you shall begin to 
stand without and knock at the door, saying, Lord, 
open to us. And He answering, shall say to you : I 
know you not whence you are." Now, it is singular 
that any one could hope to dwell with God and His 
angels for ever unless because he loved God and 
gladly served Him, and thus had lived and died. 
But observation of the conduct of superficial Chris- 
tians bears out the remainder of our Saviour's de- 
scription of this class : " Then you shall begin to 

say : We have eaten and drunk in . 

Thy presence, and Thou hast taught 
in our streets." They claim divine 

friendship not because they were 

really God's friends, but because by 

accident of birth they could have 

easily loved Him, if they only had 

wished to do so : a wonderful de- 
lusion. The Lord shall therefore 

(and all the more justly) say to 

them " I know you not whence you 

are ; depart from Me, all ye workers 

of iniquity." In contrast with 

these, who trusted for salvation 

neither to God's goodness nor their 

own efforts, but rather to God's 

carelessness and their own good 



"LORD, OPEN TO US." 

And a certain man said to him : Lord, 
are they few that are saved ? But he said 
to them : Strive to enter by the narrow 
gate, for many, I say to you, shall seek to 
enter and shall not be able. But when 
the Master of the house shall be gone in, 
and shall shut to the door, you shall begin 
to stand without and knock at the door, 
saying: Lord, open to us. And he an- 
swering, shall say to you: I know you 
not whence you are. Then you shall 
begin to say : We have eaten and drunk 
in thy presence, and thou hast taught in 
our streets. And he shall say to you : I 
know you not whence you are ; depart 
from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There 
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, 
when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and 
Jacob and all the prophets, in the King- 
dom of God, and you yourselves thrust 
out. And these shall come from the east 
and the west, and the north and the south, 
and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God. 
And behold, they are last who shall be 
first, and they are first that shall be last. 



466 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

luck — in terrible contrast with these will be the faithful 
souls who loved God and did His will : " There shall 
be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall 
see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the 
prophets, in the Kingdom of God, and you your- 
selves thrust out." 

Having applied this lesson to the cowardly 
Hebrews in comparison with the earnest ones, Jesus 
furthermore contrasted the chosen race of Israel with 
the net of the world. How His loving soul must 
have expanded as He lifted His face and stretched 
forth His arms towards the whole wide world, cry- 
ing out : ' ' And these shall come from the east and 
the west, and the north and the south, and shall 
sit down in the Kingdom of God. And behold, they 
are last who shall be first, and they are first that 
shall be last." 

There are some who hope to enter heaven by a 
system of religious passwords ; or by faith alone ; or 
by works alone ; or by the virtues of their family ; 
or by exceptional favor, as men travel a railroad by 
commutation tickets ; or by some vague minimum of 
merit because they are too busy to do more ; or 
merely by good luck. Against all of these Jesus 
Christ stands as firm as the battlements of heaven 
and as eternal as God's life. Men are saved by 
earnest faith in God, together with practical love of 
God and their neighbor. Beyond this there is only 
delusion in this world and weeping and gnashing of 
teeth in the next. 

During this discourse upon the Narrow Gate, the 
Master and His following received news of the 
massacre by Pontius Pilate of a turbulent mob of 
Galileans, whose blood was shed in the very Temple 
itself. How our Saviour turned this into a lesson, 



THE SLAUGHTER OF THE GALILEANS. 467 

and also that of the dreadful death of the men upon 
whom a tower had fallen near the city, is seen in 
the following: "And there were present at that very 
time some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood 
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he 
answering said to them : Think you that these Gali- 
leans were sinners above all the men of Galilee, be- 
cause they suffered such things ? No, I say to you : 
but unless you shall do penance, you shall all like- 
wise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower 
fell in Siloe, and slew them : think you that they also 
were debtors above all the men that dwelt in Jeru- 
salem? No, I say to you : but except you do 
penance, you shall all likewise perish." 

Our Saviour touches us all with these words as a 
surgeon does his patient : passing his hand over 
the ulcer, where his touch hurts us most his knife 
will sink deepest. Penance is the knife of God for our 
salvation. Spiritual ointments and lotions are good 
for venial faults, which are like skin diseases, whereas 
mortal sin must be totally cut away. Again, it is a 
trait of fallen man to apply such judgments as sudden 
death to other sinners rather than to themselves. 
Our Saviour taught otherwise. The pale faces and 
the breathless words of the terrified messengers tell- 
ing the Galilean disciples of the bloody fate of their 
neighbors and friends, was to the Master a good 
opportunity, though a very sad one, to lift His gentle 
voice and warn them to take the lesson home to 
their own hearts. 



468 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER LXXII. 

"why cumbereth it the ground." 

Luke xiii. 6—g. 

Further enforcement of the duty of immediate 
repentance, and the danger of delay, the Master gave, 
as was His custom, by a pictured lesson. What men 
know by abstract precepts they know as the doctor's 
remedy written in the prescription ; what they know 
through parables is like the very 
taste and strength of the medicine 
itself. 

What sinner is there wholly des- 
titute of a' friend to pray for him? 
How many of us must thank for our 
salvation a loving mother whose 
prayer has been as constant as the 
rising sun, and as sure of success 
as the sun of giving the morning 



ONE YEAR MORE. 

He spoke also this parable : A certain 
man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard, 
and he came seeking fruit on it, and found 
none. And he said to the dresser of the 
vineyard : Behold for these three years I 
come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and I 
find none. Cut it down therefore ; why 
cumbereth it the ground ? But he answer- 
ing said to him : Lord, let it alone this 
year also, until I dig about it, and dung it. 
And if happily it bear fruit: but if not, 
then after that thou shalt cut it down. 



dawn. Then there are the Saints in Heaven, these 
same Apostles of Jesus, the Mother of Jesus, who was 
for so long His only Apostle, our patron saints, our 
guardian angels. These and all other saints plead 
for sinners, and not in vain ; for it is the Redeemer's 
will to save men by the preaching and ministering 
and praying of other men, aided by the angels. 
Jesus is the one Advocate between God and man as 
far as the mediation of merit is concerned. But the 
mediatorship of prayer, instruction, correction, and 
example is universal. 



ALL FOR ALL. 



469 



CHAPTER LXXIII. 

"THIS MAN BEGAN TO BUILD AND WAS NOT ABLE 
TO FINISH." 

Luke xiv. 25-35. 

WE know that the inhabitants of the Perea, pur- 
posely chosen by John the Baptist as his usual 
auditory, were, like the Galileans, good and true 
Israelites, being little tainted by the leaven of the 
Pharisees. But in its entirety the claim of Jesus 
Christ upon men put to the test all and more than 
all that they could offer of devotedness. God exacts 
all and gives all — such is the agreement ; a simple 
bargain, but effecting a perfect exchange. 

Let the reader place himself amid the throng ; let 
him make his own the deep Jewish affec 
tion for home and kindred ; let him fancy , 
the beaming face, the uplifted arms, the 
penetrating voice of the Master, and so 
realize the force of this teaching : "If any 
man come to Me, and hate not his father and 
mother, and wife and children, and brethren 
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he can- 
not be My disciple." They could understand 
the word "hate," as applied to the treatment 
of those who, though nearest of kin, yet would 
hold a man back from the love of Jesus the 
Son of God. But what did He mean by the 
words that followed ? ' ' And whosoever doth 
not carry his cross and come after Me, can- 
not be My disciple?" The Cross? What is 
that ? Is it some emblem, or amulet, or secret 
sign of fellowship? The Romans put men to 
death on a cross — could it be possible that 




" Let it alone this year also» 
until I dig about it." 



ALL FOR ALL. 

And there went great multitudes with 
him ; and turning, he said to them : If any 
man come to me, and hate not his father, 
and mother, and wife, and children, and 
brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life 
also, he cannot be my disciple. And who- 
soever doth not carry his cross and come 
after me, cannot be my disciple. 



470 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the Master meant that such a disgraceful end should 
be His, and that such was also the risk His disciples 
would run, — that He would lead 
them to it by dying thus Himself? 
These were their thoughts on hear- 
ing this mention of the emblem of 
sovereign love, the amulet indeed 
in all ages which puts a happy spell 
upon whomsoever wears it, the 
secret and public sign of men and nations who say 
and continue saying : " With Christ I am nailed to 
the cross." 

The frankness of Jesus grows apace. From day 
to day He reveals more and more of the Glad Tidings. 
The universal Church, as supplanting the Jewish 
national Church, is revealed ; the only salvation is 
Jesus leading to the Father by the Holy Spirit ; 
the oneness of the Three Persons and the personal 
difference of the Three in One ; the identity of Jesus 
with their God Jehovah, though He is man as well 
as God ; the need that He must suffer and die and 
rise again to life ; His appointing leaders in His 
Church who are set apart as the officials in a 
thoroughly organized society ; the Spirit and the water 
in baptism ; the Body and Blood and the bread and 
wine in the personal union of God and man in fulness 
of love ; and now the farewell to parents and wife 
and children and home and country if these stand 
against Christ. The sign of it all is the Cross. Love 
of mother and father is holy, but there is something 
holier ; love of wife and child is holy, but there 
is something holier : it is the love of Jesus Christ. 
Love of home is strong and love of life is stronger; 
but the strongest force this world has ever known 
is the love of Jesus Christ. 



ALL FOR ALL. 



471 



He warns them to count the cost before casting 
their lot with Him and enrolling under such a standard. 

The teaching of Jesus develops a hard religion, 
and this is frankly stated by Him ; there is no hiding 
of the cross. Hence the admonition to think before 
accepting. Enthusiasm is good, imagination has 
great uses, generous impulse is to be cultivated, the 
panic of sinners fleeing from divine wrath is contagious 
and is of great worth in religion, as well as the 
other and happier contagion of loving company among 
the righteous : all these are good, but the great 
essential for obtaining joy is the bitter cross. One by 
one and very calmly the followers of Jesus must in- 
telligently accept beforehand all hardships, even to 
death itself, if they are to become wholly and finally 
subject to His will. This is what is meant by such 
expressions as being made a Christian, being con- 
verted, changed in heart, sanctified, enlightened by the 
Holy Spirit. The cross leads to that new and hither- 
to uncomprehended joy which is the dominant senti- 
ment of Christians. " God forbid that I should glory 
save in the cross of Jesus Christ." It is the glory 
of reason painfully but joyfully 
triumphing over appetite ; the vic- 
tory of the man over the animal. 
Especially it is the hard struggle, 
but joyfully won, of the supernatur- 
al spirit of Jesus over the natural 
spirit of the old Adam. 

It is consoling to know that the 
easiest way to win souls to our 
Saviour is honest imitation of His 
plain statement of this heroic ele- 
ment in His religion. Try to hide 
the cross, and you may gain ad- 



ENTIRE RENUNCIATION. 

For which of you having a mind to build 
a tower, doth not first sit down and reckon 
the charges that are necessary, whether he 
have wherewithal to finish it ; Lest after 
he hath laid the foundation, and is not able 
to finish it, all that see it begin to mock 
him, saying : This man began to build, 
and was not able to finish. Or what king 
about to go to make war against another 
king, doth not first sit down and think 
whether he be able with ten thousand to 
meet him that with twenty thousand cometh 
against him ? Or else whilst the other is 
yet afar off, sending an embassy, he de- 
sireth conditions of peace. So likewise 
every one of you that doth not renounce all 
that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple. 



472 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

lierents of Christ but not disciples. Tell the whole 
truth of Christ, and you win the whole heart of man. 
Thanks be to God for this : it is honorable to our 
fallen humanity. 




CHAPTER IvXXIV. 

JESUS IS WARNED AGAINST HEROD. 

Luke xiii. 31-35. 

NONE knew better than the Pharisees the fear- 
lessness of Jesus. While in the Perea He 
had taught those inspiring maxims of con- 
tempt of danger and even of death which are 
characteristic of His religion. Why, then, did 
they think to rid themselves of Him by the warn- 
ing : "Depart and get Thee hence, for Herod 
hath a mind to kill Thee." It is possible that 
the particular Pharisees who gave this advice meant 
Him well, but it is not likely. 

Our Saviour's answer to the warning was a singu- 
lar one, and His meaning is involved in mystery. 
He calls Herod " that fox," and He says that He 
has but a few more days for driving out demons and 
healing the sick, and after that Herod and all His 
other enemies will have their will; — the Saviour will 
be put to death: "Go and tell that fox: Behold I 
cast out devils and do cures to-day and to-morrow, 
and the third day I am consummated." He repeats 
what He had several times told His Apostles : Jeru- 
salem is speedily to see His end ; but meantime He 
is Master of His own movements: "Nevertheless I 
must walk to-day, and to-morrow, and the day follow- 
ing, because it cannot be that a prophet die out of 
Jerusalem." 



LESSONS OF MERCY. 473 

Jesus adds a bitter reproach to the Holy City, 
one that He will repeat and enlarge upon at the 
solemn moment of His last entry there. How the 
name of the City, a talisman to every Jew, must have 
thrilled all their hearts as the sorrowful longing in the 
tones of Jesus sank into their ears. How His own 
soul must have been racked with the conflict of love 
and disappointment as He addressed the Holy City : 
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets and 
stonest them that are sent to thee ! How often would 
I have gathered thy children, as the bird doth her 
brood under her wings, and thou wouldst not ! Be- 
hold your house shall be left to you desolate. And I 
say to you that you shall not see Me till the time 
come, when you shall say : Blessed is He that cometh 
in the name of the L,ord." 



CHAPTER LXXV. 

WESSONS OF MERCY. — THE LOST GROAT. — THE PRODI- 
GAL SON. 

Luke XV. I -J 2. 

From these sad topics, and dropping the tone of 
admonition, Jesus turned again to His favorite theme, 
the mercy of God to sinners. Nothing the Jews 
could do was able to prevent His coming back to it. 
Mercy was His bread and meat ; love was the in- 
spiration of Jesus. 

Here in the Perea He repeated the parable of the 
lost sheep which He had previously given in Galilee. 
It was caused by the coming to Him of a group of 
publicans and other outcasts. The Saviour bent 
towards them with pity, all the greater because the 
stricter sect of Jews were offended at His not exclud- 



474 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



" REJOICE WITH ME ! " 

Now the publicans and sinners drew 
near unto him to hear him. And the 
Pharisees and the Scribes murmured, say- 
ing : This man receiveth sinners and eateth 
with them. And he spoke to them this 
parable, saying : What man of you that 
hath an hundred sheep, and if he shall 
lose one of them, doth he not leave the 
ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that 
which was lost until he find it ; and when 
he has found it, lay it upon his shoulders 
rejoicing ; and coming home, call to- 
gether his friends and neighbors, saying to 
them : Rejoice with me, because I have 
found my sheep that was lost ? I say to 
you, that even so there shall be joy in 
Heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, 
more than upon ninety-nine just who need 
not penance. 




ing them. He taught the difference 
between these self-righteous men and 
the glorious angels. The angels 
tolerate sinners, they are not asham- 
ed of them ; nay, their joy is greater 
over the repentance of a sinner than 
over the stainless virtue of the inno- 
cent. In this He teaches the inter- 
vention of the angels in human af- 
fairs. They too are our Saviour's 
helpers in saving souls ; they know 
our sinfulness, they counsel us to 
repent, they rejoice at our salvation. 
Jesus added the illustration of the Lost Groat. 
How singular a charity in the Eternal God to search 
for a loathsome sinner as a poor woman does for a 
lost coin. God lights a candle in the 
dark cavern of the sinner's soul and 
shows him the brink of the deep pit, 
the lurid flames, the long ages of hor- 
ror. And then He turns him towards 
His own loving face. The candle is 
the true faith : the knowledge that 
God is good ; that He has founded His 
Church for sinners ; that He has en- 
riched His sacraments with the pre- 
cious blood of His only begotten Son. 
God lights this candle by the word of 
friendly warning from a devout friend, 
the tears of a heart-broken mother, the 
death of a patient wife or a beloved 
child, the stern rebuke or kindly ad- 
monition of a faithful priest ; or b} 7 the 
inspiration of the Holy Ghost iu the 
sting of conscience. And when the 



Seek diligently until she find it." 



LESSONS OF MERCY. 

candle has been lighted the Ten 
Commandments sweep the sinner's 
soul like a sharp broom. Confes- 
sion, humble and sorrowful, wins 
absolution, and Holy Communion 
is the rejoicing of the angels with 
the Heavenly Father for the salva- 
tion of the sinner. 

The literature of the world 
has nothing so beautiful as the 
story of the Prodigal Son. In 
it our Saviour tells of the worst 
of sons in rebellion against the 
best of fathers. Having painted 
the black guilt in the son in 
contrast with the kindness of 
the father, the Master follows 
the wretched young fool to his 
riot and wickedness and shows 
the end of it — disgrace, poverty, 
starvation. He now pictures the re- 
pentance. The son is moved to re- 
turn to his father, but only by the 
lowest motives. He is not stung by 
a sense of his ingratitude, by the 
realization of the suffering he has 
inflicted on his father ; no, but he is 
starving. His own material needs 
are what force him to return and 
ask for pardon. Yet this animal 
dread of pain is redeemed by one 
better trait, that of humility. He 
is absolutely disgusted with himself, 
makes no claim to sonship, will be 
glad to be taken as a servant 



475 



THE JOY OF THE ANGELS. 

Or what woman having ten groats, if 
she lose one groat doth not light a candle 
and sweep the house and seek diligently, 
until she find it ? And when she hath 
found it, call together her friends and 
neighbors, saying : Rejoice with me, be- 
cause I have found the groat which I had 
lost. So I say to you, there shall be joy 
before the angels of God upon one sinner 
doing penance. 




The husks the swine did eat. 



'FATHER, I HAVE SINNED." 

And he said : A certain man had two 
sons : And the younger of them said to 
his father : Father, give me the portion of 
substance that falleth to me And he 
divided unto them his substance. And not 
many days after, the younger son gather- 
ing all together, went abroad into a far 
country : and there wasted his substance 
living riotously. And after he had spent 
all, there came a mighty famine in that 
country, and he began to be in want. And 
he went, and cleaved to one of the citizens 
of that country. And he sent him into his 
farm to feed swine. And he would fain 
have filled his belly with the husks the 
swine did eat ; and no man gave unto 
him. And returning to himself, he said : 
How many hired servants in my father's 
house abound with bread, and I here 
perish with hunger ? I will arise, and will 
go to my father, and say to him : Father, I 
have sinned against heaven, and before 
thee : I am not now worthy to be called 
thy son : make me as one of thy hired 




LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Meantime the father has never abandoned hope, never 
allowed his mind to be embittered, is constantly on the 
watch for his son's return, and finally beholds the pro- 
digal wearily creeping towards his home. The scene 
that follows is one of the most touching ever por- 
trayed : the embrace upon the road, the seeming un- 
consciousness on the father's part of any confession 
a being made, the immediate restoration to sonship 
and heirship, its public celebration, and the 
loving answer to the envious protest of the 
son who has never strayed. 
•'And I here perish with hunger." In the teaching of Jesus Christ there are 

some terrible dogmas, but the Par- 
able of the Prodigal Son is the 
glorious alternative of every one 
of them. " Thy mere}' is above all 
Thy works." There is a deep mys- 
tery in eternal punishment ; but the 
mystery of divine love is more in- 
comprehensible than that of hell. 
Jesus mourns the sinner as a father 
mourns a lost child, yea, as he 
weeps over the dead body of his 
son. He rejoices with all heaven 
upon the repentance of a sinner, 
as a parent upon the restoration of 
a child to life. 



senants. And rising up he came to his 
father. And when he was yet a great way 
off his father saw him, and was moved 
with compassion, and running to him, fell 
upon his neck and kissed him. And the 
son said to him : Father, I have sinned 
against heaven, and before thee : I am not 
now worthy to be called thy son. And 
the father said to his servants : Bring forth 
quickly the first robe, and put it on him, 
and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on 
his feet. And bring hither the fatted calf, 
and kill it, and let us eat and make merry : 
Because this my son was dead, and is come 
to life again : was lost, and is found. And 
they began to be merry. Now his elder 
son was in the field, and when he came 
and drew nigh to the house, he heard 
music and dancing : And he called one of 
the servants, and asked what these things 
meant. And he said to him : Thy brother 
is come, and thy father hath killed the 
fatted calf, because he hath received him 
safe. And he was angry, and would not 
go in. His father therefore coming out 
began to entreat him. And he answer- 
ing, said to his father : Behold, for so 
many years do I serve thee, and I have 
never transgressed thy commandment, and 
yet thou hast never given me a kid to make 
merry with my friends : But as soon as 
this thy son is come, who hath devoured 
his substance with harlots, thou hast killed 
for him the fatted calf. But he said to 
him : Son, thou art always with me, and 
all I have is thine. But it was fit that we 
should make merry and be glad, for this 
thy brother was dead, and is come to life 
again ; he was lost, and is found. 




THE UNJUST STEWARD. 



477 



CHAPTER LXXVI. 

THE UNJUST STEWARD. 

Luke xvi. 1-15. 

It was natural that Jesus should speak to the people 
of the feverish zeal of the rich to gain and keep their 
wealth. In our own day, hardly can the missionary 
who carries the cross of Christ to the heathen outstrip 
the priest of Mammon carrying opium and alcohol. If 
the faithful pastor of souls gladly risks his life at the 
bedside of the cholera patient, the votary of money as 
gladly shortens his life in the wild whirl of the stock 
exchange. Men of money spend more time, waste 
more vitality, study out more expedients to win 
dollars, than do men of God to save immortal souls 
from hell. This les*son — the wonder we feel at the 
heroism of Mammon's worshippers and shame at our 
own shortcomings in the work of God — our Saviour 
taught by the parable of the Unjust Steward, 
which, for an obvious reason, was addressed to 
His disciples only. 

1 ' There was a certain rich man who had 
a steward, and the same was accused unto 
I.I..1 that he had wasted his goods." God is 
meant by the master in this parable, for He 
is the owner of the world and of all it con- 
tains ; He made it, He preserves it every 
moment. Those who possess this world's 
goods are the stewards whom God has chosen 
to administer His property for the best good 
of the greatest number, they themselves 
being made secure of plenty for their 
own use according to the social state in 
which Providence has placed them. 




He was lost, and is found." 



478 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



Their chief duty is to employ their Master's pro- 
perty according to His purpose, which is to advance 
His honor and the happiness of His people. The rich 
man who uses the portion of God's wealth committed to 
him as if it were his own and as if he had a right to do 
as he pleases with it, who spends it in mere luxury, 
prodigality, or display, who does not seek and find 
God's will in using it, sins against his Lord and against 
his Lord's people. He forfeits his place. 

"And He called him and He 

said to him : How is it that I hear 
this of thee ? give an account of 
tlry stewardship, for now thou canst 
be steward no longer. ' ' The steward 
is stripped of his authority, the rich 
man is made poor. But he has still 
a moment for *scheming. The mas- 
ter's books and accounts are in his 
possession ; although he knows that 
he is bankrupt, others still think him 
to be solvent. He has his lawyers, 
who can invoke the law's delay. He 
can still borrow money upon the 
credit of a fortune he knows to be 
gone. He can betray trust reposed 
in him. Our Saviour describes the 
trick this steward played, that of 
corrupting his master's debtors. He 
lay awake of nights ; he raced the 
— ' whole country over ; he labored and 
schemed, he bribed and threatened ; he must do any- 
thing and everything, for if he is thrown upon the 
world for a living it means either the shame of honest 
begging or the toil of honest labor. " To dig I am un- 
able, to beg I am ashamed. I know what I will do, 



" GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF THY STEWARDSHIP. " 

: And he said to his disciples : There was 
a certain rich man who had a steward, and 
the same was accused unto him, that he 
had wasted his goods. And he called him, 
and he said to him : How is it that I hear 

Ithis of thee ? give an account of thy 
stewardship, for now thou canst be steward 

'no longer. And the steward said within 
himself: What shall I do, because my 
lord taketh away from me the stewardship ? 

j To dig I am unable, to beg I am ashamed ; 

1 1 know what I will do, that when I shall be 

iremoved from the stewardship they may 
receive me into their houses. Therefore 
calling together every one of his lord's 
debtors, he said to the first : How much 
dost thou owe my lord ? But he said : An 
hundred barrels of oil. And he said to 
him : Take thy bill and sit down quickly 
and write, fifty. Then he said to another : 
And how much dost thou owe ? Who 
said : An hundred quarters of wheat. He 
said to him : Take thy bill and write, 
eighty. And the lord commended the un- 
just steward, forasmuch as he had done 
wisely, for the children of this world are 
wiser in their generation than the children 
of light. And I say to you : Make unto 
you friends of the mammon of iniquity, 
that when you shall fail they may receive 
you into everlasting dwellings. 




THE UNJUST STEWARD. 479 

that when I shall be removed from the stewardship 
they may receive me into their houses." 

Having injured his master by squandering 
his goods, he now commits a double crime : 
he does him a parting wrong by robbing him 
of a portion of his just dues ; he corrupts the 
debtors by dividing with them the portion 
fraudulently obtained ; and he gives receipts, 
signs his master's name, and so becomes se- << 
cure by this thievish partnership with the dis- ^ e ^^ the first . H ow 

honest debtors. much dost thou owe my lord?" 

Shrewdness is a quality rather of successful rogues 
than of fervent Christians. When the steward had got 
away, and when the master found out his final villany 
and how he had managed to hedge it about by legal 
tricks, he could not help admiring the scoundrel's 
cleverness: "And the lord commended the unjust 
steward forasmuch as he had done wisely, ' ' that is to 
say, cunningly. Our Saviour then enforces the lesson : 
* * For the children of this world are wiser in their 
generation than the children of light," — wiser, keener 
on the scent, more vigorous in pushing on, in crowding 
aside obstacles, all for money too, and for earthly 
power, things which perish and are gone in a day : 
while the children of light seem to grope in dark- 
ness, and to struggle but feebly for the boon of life 
eternal. 

But are there no rich men who are the Saviour's 
friends ? Are there no just stewards ? Yes, there are 
some, and they are dear to God. They have in their 
wealth a special grace, and Jesus points it out to them. 
They can forge their gold into keys of the Kingdom of 
Heaven : by their gifts to the poor, to religion, to edu- 
cation, for the common comfort of their fellow-men. 
What if wealth be the false god Mammon ; even so, it ' 



480 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

may be made to stand in good stead for eternity. As 
riches are a help to the unjust steward, they may 
equally be made a help to the just steward : " And I 
say to you : Make unto you friends of the mammon of 
iniquity, that when you shall fail they may receive you 
into everlasting dwellings." 

The further application of this parable concerns the 
higher, or rather the more intimate, motives of the 
spiritual life. For if one should object, naturally 
enough, that at best the custody of this world's goods 
is on the lower plane of duty, that the real question is 
about the right heart, the intention and purpose, the 
faith and the love of the Christian, our Blessed Re- 
deemer answers that fidelity in the lower order of duty 
is the test of fidelity in the higher. Obedience in little 
things can be motived by as strong a love as that which 
incites to greater things : ' ' He that is faithful in that 
which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater, 
and he that is unjust in that which is little, is unjust 
also in that which is greater. If therefore you have 
not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will trust 
you in that which is true ? And if you have not been 
faithful in that which is another's, who will give you 
that which is your own ? ' ' 

St. Luke takes occasion here to reveal an additional 
reason for the enmity of the Pharisees ; besides being 
proud and hypocritical they were also covetous : 
" They derided Him. And He said to them : You are 
they who justify yourselves before men, but God know- 
eth your hearts, for that which is high to men is an 
abomination before God." 



DIVES AND LAZARUS. 



481 



CHAPTER LXXVII. 



DIVES AND LAZARUS. 

Luke xvi. 1 9-1 1. 

This is the awful parable of the rich, proud glutton, 
tormented in the flames of hell, craving for a drop of 
water from the despised beggar whom from afar he 
beholds in Paradise. It is the reversal of a pitiful con- 
dition too often seen upon this earth ; 
the wretched pauper lying at the 
door of the sensualist while a ban- 
quet is going on within ; the dogs 
licking his sores, his very soul hun- 
gering for even the crumbs of the 
feast whose noisy revelry mocks his 
fainting ear. The parable is a ter- 
rible scene, and is painted with such 
divine power that every syllable 
strikes the heart and makes it 
tremble. 

The contrast is perfect. There 
at his rich feast sits the sensualist 
amid his guests and his servants. 
He is one man in a million. The 
rest of men are either ordinary well- 
to-do citizens, humble workmen and 
farmers, or they are paupers, beg- 
gars, and outcasts. Many men and 
women are tortured by the lack of 
necessary food, shamed and rejected 
by all but a few of the more tender- 
hearted. The poor beggar finds 
company even in a dog, and is often 
clung to by the beast when men 



THE RICH GLUTTON AND THE STARVING 
BEGGAR. 

There was a certain rich man, who was 
clothed in purpie and fine linen : and 
feasted sumptuously every day. And there 
was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who 
lay at his gate, full of sores, desiring to 
be filled with the crumbs that fell from 
the rich man's table, and no one did give 
him ; moreover the dogs came and licked 
his sores. And it came to pass that the 
beggar died, and was carried by the angels 
into Abraham's bosom. And the rich 
man also died : and he was buried in hell. 
And lifting up his eyes when he was in 
torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and 
Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried, and 
said : Father Abraham, have mercy on 
me, and send Lazarus that he may dip 
the tip of his finger in water, to cool my 
tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. 
And Abraham said to him : Son, remember 
that thou didst receive good things in thy 
life-time, and likewise Lazarus evil things: 
but now he is comforted, and thou art 
tormented. And besides all this, between 
us and you there is fixed a great chaos : so 
that they who would pass from hence to 
you, cannot, nor from thence come hither 
And he said : Then, father, I beseech thee 
that thou wouldst send him to my father's 
house, for I have five brethren, that he 
may testify unto them, lest they also come 
into this place of torments. And Abra- 
ham said to him: They have Moses and 
the prophets ; let them hear them. But 
he said : No, father Abraham, but if one 
went to them from the dead, they will 
do penance. And he said to him : If 
they hear not Moses and the prophets, 
neither will they believe if one rise again 
from the dead. 



482 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



have abandoned him. The rich glutton counts his 
money ; he lords it over his hirelings, gorges with 
meat and drink, despises dirty beggars and tries to 
forget that they exist — and he is happy. The poor 
tramp counts his sores, weeps in his lonesomeness, 
caresses his affectionate cur, faints with starvation ; but 
if he be a Christian, he accounts his misery as God's 
holy will, and though always suffering, does not repine, 
and he neither hates nor envies any one. He creeps to 
the rich man's door, and gets a morsel now and then 
from a kindly servant ; and some stormy night the 
howling of his dog tells that he is dead : away with 
him to the Potter's Field ! But there are other rich 
persons who have stood by him, rich angels of the 
Almighty God, servants of the All-owning God. 
These embrace his soul, are honored by its friendship, 
are glad of its ecstatic cry of joy, and bear it away in 
triumph to the company of Abraham, he too another 
sort of rich man, who in his day always loved and 
served the poor. 

" And the rich man also died." He chokes to death 
with a surfeit ; or he dies suddenly from paralysis, 
brought on by dissipation ; a jealous mistress 
poisons or a jealous rival stabs him. Anyway he 
dies; though he feast sumptuously every day for 
a hundred years, at last he dies. And he has a 
gorgeous funeral. But nevertheless he is cast 

into hell, sunk so 




deep into it that 
the Master says he 
is buried therein. 
Yet he can look 
acrossthe vacant 
chaos which di- 
rt Desiring to be filled with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table " vides his abode 



DIVES AND LAZARUS. 483 

from Paradise ; he can hear the canticles of eternal joy. 
Oh, what a spectacle he beholds ! Lazarus the beggar 
in Abraham's bosom! "Give me a drop of water," 
he cries; "give it by the beggar's charity, for I am 
tormented in this flame." Then follows the awful 
dialogue, preceded by the fateful word, Remember! 
11 Remember that thou didst receive good things in thy 
life-time." The hard-hearted sensualist was given 
many years, and allowed to waste them ; the true reli- 
gion, and allowed to despise it ; the goods of his 
Master, and allowed to squander them ; given, indeed, 
many privileges : but the boon of forgetting these shall 
never be his. He must now be clothed in the purple 
of fire and the raiment of remorse ; he must feast on 
the fiery memory of his cruel and hateful life for ever. 

"A great gulf is fixed between us and you," says 
Abraham, "so that they who would pass from hence 
to you cannot, nor from thence come hither." That 
gulf or chaos is eternity. 

Then what? Is he silenced ? No. He would save 
those who in his own way were dear to him ; or per- 
haps his five brothers had been corrupted by himself, 
who was the eldest, and he dreaded a five-fold hell 
if they came to take vengeance on him. He pleads 
again : let Lazarus be sent as a messenger ! Alas ! he 
was a messenger once, as every poor man is God's 
messenger to the rich ; but he had failed. And be- 
sides this, his going even from the dead would not 
avail. It would but deepen the guilt of the five 
brothers, for they would reject the call to repentance. 
Had they not had calls enough ? Did they not have 
the true religion ? Did they not believe in Moses and 
the prophets, who in a thousand ways commanded and 
counselled and exhorted and entreated the rich to 
cherish and help the poor and to remember the life to 



484 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



"Would 
much as 
his ejes." 



come? Moses and the prophets stood for God better 
than any returning spirit could. If his brethren ■ ' will 
not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they 
believe if one rise again from the dead." 

Indeed, there were many men who knew our 
Saviour Himself, who saw Him heal the blind and 
deaf and lame, who saw Him raise the dead to life by 
a mere word, yet who not only refused to believe Him 
but strove to put Him to death, and all the more 
eagerly because of His miracles. 

And thus ended the most terrible of the discourses 
of Jesus ; one which has saved countless multitudes 
of men and women from the life and death of the 
sensualist. 



CHAPTER LXXVIII. 



LESSONS IN 



HUMILITY. — THE 
PUBLICAN 



PHARISEE AND THE 




Luke xvii. 5-10, a?id xviii. 9-14. 

" And the Apostles said to the Lord : Lord, increase 
our faith." Probably the petition was dictated by 
selfish motives. The Apostles may have asked this 
favor after one of those expeditions into the surround- 
ing country in which they had failed in their endeavor 
to work miracles. To show them how this high super- 
natural gift is increased by the practice of the lowly 
virtue of humility, our Saviour taught, first, that faith 
was the all-powerful means of obtaining miracles, and. 
second, that increase of faith as well as of every virtue 
has its root in humility : 

"And the Lord said: If you had faith like to a 
grain of mustard-seed, you might say to this mulberry- 
tree, Be thou rooted up, and be thou transplanted into 
the sea : and it would obey you. But which of you 



LESSONS IN HUMILITY. 



485 



" I AM NOT AS THE REST OF MEN." 

And to some who trusted in themselves 
as just, and despised others, he spoke also 
this parable : Two men went up into the 
temple to pray : the one a Pharisee, and 
the other a publican. The Pharisee stand- 
ing prayed thus with himself : O God, I 
give thee thanks that I am not as the rest 
of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 
as also is this publican. I fast twice in a 
week : I give tithes of all that I possess. 
And the publican standing afar off would 
not so much as lift up his eyes towards 
heaven : but struck his breast, saying : O 
God, be merciful to me a sinner. I say to 
you, this man went down into his house 
justified rather than the other ; because 
every one that exalteth himself, shall be 
humbled : and he that humbleth himself, 
shall be exalted. 



we have done that 



having a servant ploughing or feed- 
ing cattle, will say to him when he 
is come from the field : Immediately 
go, sit down to meat : And will not 
rather say to him : Make ready my 
supper, and gird thyself, and serve 
me whilst I eat and drink, and after- 
wards thou shalt eat and drink ? 
Doth he thank that servant for do- 
ing the things which he commanded 
him? I think not. So you also, 
when you shall have done all these 
things that are commanded you, 
say : We are unprofitable servants ; 
which we ought to do." 

A very severe rebuke, showing that we should be 
on our guard lest on pretence of serv- 
ing God we unconsciously strive to 
make God serve us. 

The celebrated picture of the Phari- 
see and the publican praying in the 
Temple is the completion of this lesson. 
Sharper contrast there could hardly be. 
The Pharisee was the true Israelite in 
race, in faith, and in station ; the pub- 
lican was a traitor to his people and an 
apostate from his religion. The prayer 
of the Pharisee, based on his fulness 
of merits, was a mere devotional boast; 
that of the publican was the cry of a 
broken heart. The result was a total 
reversal of their relative positions. The 
publican becomes pleasing to God, is 
pardoned and made righteous; the 
Pharisee, with all his orthodoxy, is not 




I am not as the rest of men." 



486 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

simply no whit better for his prayer, but even in the 
very act of it adds to the weight of sin already ac- 
cumulated yet other acts of pride, censoriousness, and 
uncharity. It is pitiful that the heritage of the true 
faith, with its attendant good fortune of orthodox name, 
family, and training, is often the occasion of spiritual 
pride. What makes some men humble makes other 
men haughty. And notice how steadfastly the Master 
returns again and yet again to the two-fold essence of 
His Gospel, the lesson of humility and of love : 

Sanctity "bylaw established" is one thing; sanc- 
tity as fruit of the fear and love of God is quite another. 
Comparison between ourselves and others cannot be 
instituted without danger of the sin of pride. It is a 
fact, a monstrous fact, that some persons cannot even 
pray without thinking injury to their neighbors. An- 
other curious paradox is, that some followers of Christ 
can only be saved by losing for a time the grace of God 
and falling into shameful sins. From these they can 
return by humble penance ; from the sins of spiritual 
pride towards which they had unconsciously been 
hastening they could not have been saved. 

Humility plants the germs of justification in a sinful 
soul ; pride plants the germs of damnation in a 
righteous soul. 



CHAPTER LXXIX. 

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD. 

John xi. 1-46. 

Jesus gave His reasons for calling Lazarus back to 
life. They were two : first, He " loved Martha, and her 
sister Mary, and Lazarus" ; second, the advancement 
of His mission ; ' ' that the Son of God may be glori- 
fied," and, as He said to His Apostles, "that you may 



THE RAISING OF LAZARUS. 



487 



believe." Let us note the union of 
these two motives, for it throws light 
upon the human character of the Son 
of God. 

His miracles gave Him His 
standing. They were the power of 
Jehovah, and they took the place in 
the New Law of the marvels and 
portents of the Old, such as the part- 
ing of the Red Sea, the miraculous 
manna, the thunders of Sinai. But 
unlike the miracles of the olden 
time, those of the Messias were 
usually wrought through love for 
particular persons. For the whole 
world, indeed, Jesus was transfig- 
ured and rose from the dead. But 
for a widowed mother's joy at Nairn 
He said: "Young man, I bid thee 
arise ' ' ; for a heart-broken father 
He touched the damsel's hand and 
she awoke to life ; and now, be- 
cause He loves Martha and Mary, 
He will break the tomb, He will 
crowd back the advancing rotten- 
ness of the corpse, He will restore 
Lazarus alive to his sisters. Can 
we mistake the meaning of all this ? 
Jesus would prove His own divinity 
by proving the divinity of the lovely 
virtue of human sympathy. 

The narrative of St. John is so 
touching that we shall give the 
whole of it unbroken. The Master 
and His Apostles were somewhere 



" LAZARUS, COME FORTH ! " 

Now there was a certain man sick named 
Lazarus, of Bethania, of the town of Mary 
and of Martha her sister. (And Mary was 
she that anointed the Lord with ointment 
and wiped his feet with her hair : whose 
brother Lazarus was sick.) His sisters 
therefore sent to him, saying : Lord, be- 
hold, he whom thou lovest is sick. And 
Jesus hearing it, said to them : -This sick- 
ness is not unto death, but for the glory of 
God : that the Son of God maybe glorified 
by it. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her 
sister Mary, and Lazarus. When he had 
heard therefore that he was sick, he still 
remained in the same place two days. 
Then after that he said to his disciples : 
Let us go into Judea again. The disciples 
say to him : Rabbi, the Jews but now 
sought to stone thee : and goest thou 
thither again ? Jesus answered : Are there 
not twelve hours of the day ? If a man 
walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because 
he seeth the light of this world : But if he 
walk in the night he stumbleth, because 
the light -is not in him. These things he 
said : and after that he said to them : 
Lazarus our friend sleepeth ; but I go that 
I may awake him out of sleep. His dis- 
ciples therefore said : Lord, if he sleep, he 
shall do well. But Jesus spoke of his 
death; and they thought that bespoke of 
the repose of sleep. Then therefore 
Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is 
dead ; and I am glad for your sakes, that 
I was not there, that you may believe : but 
let us go to him. Thomas therefore, who 
is called Didymus, said to his fellow-disci- 
ples : Let us also go, that we may die with 
him. Jesus therefore came and found that 
he had been four days already in the grave. 
(Now Bethania was near Jerusalem, about 
fifteen furlongs off.) And many of the 
Jews were come to Martha and Mary, to 
comfort them concerning their brother. 
Martha therefore, as soon as she heard that 
Jesus was come, went to meet him ; but 
Mary sat at home. Martha therefore said 
to Jesus : Lord, if thou hadst been here, 
my brother had not died. But now also I 
know that whatsoever thou wilt ask of 
God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith 
to her : Thy brother shall rise again. 
Martha saith to him : I know that he shall 
rise again in the resurrection at the last 
day. Jesus said to her : I am the resur- 
rection and the life : he that believeth in 
me although he be dead, shall live : And 
every one that liveth, and believeth in me, 



488 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




"If thou hadst been 
here, my brother had 
not died." 



beyond the Jordan when the sorrowful message 
arrived from Bethany. 

The resurrecting of Lazarus was a mighty 
stroke of power, but it was fatal to Jesus. The 
Samson of the New Law in removing the stone 
from the door of that tomb loosened the keystone 
of the arch above it. The conspirators at Jeru- 
salem felt now that Jesus must be arrested, and 
by some means put to death. Their malignant 
minds could not have imagined a more violent 
contrast to themselves than that of this loving 
figure. The more powerful His love grew to stir men's 
minds to affection, reaching into their very graves and 
snatching their decaying bodies back 
to life, the more bitter grew the 
hatred of His unbelieving enemies. 
It is probable that Lazarus died 
the day the messenger hurried away 
to Jesus with the news of his severe 
illness. Two days more of delay, 
purposely taken by the Master, made 
three, and the time used in reaching 
Bethany made the fourth day in- 
tervening between the death and the 
miracle. 

Jesus was not able to resist that 
message: " Lord, behold he whom 
Thou lovest is sick" — a woman's 
plea to a heart more tender than a 
woman's. He was bound to go to 
Bethany. He delayed only to work 
a greater miracle after arriving. 
When His disciples protested against 
running into danger by thus return- 
ing nearer to Jerusalem, He answered 



shall not die for ever. Believest thou this? 
She saith to him : Yea, Lord, I have be- 
lieved that thou art Christ the Son of the 
living God, who art come into this world. 
And when she had said these things, she 
went, and called her sister Mary secretly, 
saying: The Master is come and calleth 
for thee. She, as soon as she heard this, 
riseth quickly and cometh to him. For 
Jesus was not yet come into the town ; 
but he was still in that place where Martha 
had met him. The Jews therefore who 
were with her in the house and comforted 
her, when they saw Mary that she rose up 
speedily and went out, followed her, say- 
ing : She goeth to the grave, to weep 
there. When Mary therefore was come 
where Jesus was, seeing him, she fell down 
at his feet, and saith to him : Lord, if 
thou hadst been here, my brother had not 
died. Jesus therefore, when he saw her 
v.-eeping, and the Jews that were come 
with her, weeping, groaned in the spirit, 
and troubled himself, and said: Where 
have you laid him ? They say to him : 
Lord, come and see. And Jesus wept. 
The Jews therefore said : Behold how he 
loved him. But some of them said : 
Could not he that opened the eyes of the 
: man born blind, have caused that this 
man should not die ? Jesus therefore again 
groaning in himself, cometh to the 
sepulchre : Now it was a cave ; and a 
stone was laid over it. Jesus saith : Take 
away the stone. Martha, the sister of him 
that was dead, saith to him : Lord, by this 



THE RAISING OF LAZARUS. 



489 



time he stinketh, for he is now of four 
days. Jesus saith to her : Did not I say to 
thee, that if thou believe, thou shalt see 
the glory of God ? They took therefore 
the stone away. And Jesus lifting- up his 
eyes said : Father, I give thee thanks that 
thou hast heard me. And I knew that 
thou hearest me always, but because of the 
people who stand about have I said it ; 
that they may believe that thou has sent 
me. When he had said these things, he 
cried with a loud voice : Lazarus, come 
forth. And presently he that been dead 
came forth, bound feet and hands with 
winding-bands, and his face was bound 
about with a napkin. Jesus said to them : 
Loose him and let him go. Many there- 
fore of the Jews who were come to Mary 
and Martha, and had seen the things that 
Jesus did. believed in him. But some of 
them went to the Pharisees, and told them 
the things that Jesus had done. 



that the light of God's will should 
lead Him, ''the Light of this world." 
Then when Jesus insisted that His 
friend called and He could not re- 
fuse to go, Thomas spoke up, a heart 
inclined to doubt but yet true unto 
death (for perhaps some of the Apos- 
tles wanted to remain where they 
were, letting Jesus go and return in 
secrecy) : " Let us also go that we 
may die with Him." Thomas felt 
that the shadows were deepening 
around our Saviour. How solemn 
that moment, when for the first time 
the Apostles were brought by open avowal into union 
with their Master in the bond of death. It was rather 
the cry of affectionate hearts than of the martyr's faith, 
but for that very reason must it not have sounded 
sweet to the ears of Jesus, who desires only the " faith 
that works by love ' ' ? 

They arrived at Bethany the fourth day after the 
burial, Lazarus, according to Jewish custom, having 
been placed in the grave before sunset of the 
day he died. Martha, eager to meet her be- 
loved Master, was awaiting Him outside the 
town, and between her and Jesus a dialogue 
took place which has soothed and even healed 
the wound of death in many hearts since then. 
It is repeated in the burial service of the Church. 
It contains, too, one of the Saviour's plainest 
assertions of His divinity : "I am the resurrec 
tion and the life : he that believeth 
in Me, though he be dead shall live, ^^^ 
and every one that liveth and be 
lieveth in Me, shall not die for ever.' 




Bound feet and hands with winding- 
bands, and his face with a napkin." 



490 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

He urged this upon Martha, as if she stood sponsor 
for her dead brother, and she instantly made Peter's 
profession of faith: "Yea, Lord, I have believed that 
Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." 

Martha, hastening home before the others, told 
Mary what had passed, and both the sisters, followed 
by their household and friends, were soon gathered 
about their revered Master — come too late, as they 
thought, to do more than offer sympathy. So indeed it 
seemed ; for Jesus, when He saw the tears and heard 
the cries of the women, wept bitterly, groaning and 
sobbing with them ; yielding to His tender sympathy 
this tribute of His human heart. Nor for that alone, 
since He might well weep in foreknowledge that this 
miracle of love would hasten His own death. 

And then He bade them open the grave, a cavity in 
the rocky hillside, closed by a heavy stone. Martha 
protested that corruption had set in, thinking that He 
might be directing the removal of the stone merely to 
take a farewell look at Lazarus. Jesus reminded her 
that the reward of her faith was to " see the glory of 
God," and then He made a simple prayer of thanks to 
His Father for the mighty power He enjoyed, and be- 
cause this astounding deed should } r et further win 
men's faith in Him. All this He said aloud, that it 
might connect His miracle openly with His Father. 
And standing before the tomb, now opened, " He cried 
with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth ! " A moment 
of silence followed, all peering into the dark cave. 
And then Lazarus appeared, making his way to the 
light as best he might with the bandages upon his arms 
and legs — as if he had been in a deep sleep and the loud 
voice had waked him from death. His decaying veins 
had suddenly been filled with living blood, his dead 
heart, his dead brain were suddenly alive with his soul, 



THE RAISING OF LAZARUS. 



491 



which had heard the Master of life and death and re- 
turned to its deserted dwelling. The awe-stricken 
crowd was helpless and motionless, till Jesus said, 
" I/Oose him, and let him go." 

This miracle, when noised in Jerusalem, was the 
last incentive necessary to the conspirators. They at 
once took measures to make an end of Jesus of 
Nazareth. 




THE TOMB OP LAZARUS IN BETHANIA. 




492 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER LXXX. 

"it is expedient that one man shoued die for 
the peopee." 

Joh?i xi. 47—54.. 

LKT us consider who and what these conspirators 
were. As to their office, they were the chief priests 
and the members of the Jewish Great Council, or 
Sanhedrin. Both the high-priests, Annas and Cai- 
phas, were Sadducees, a sect which doubted the im- 
mortality of the soul and played fast and loose with 
every religious doctrine, and whose adherents were 
selected by the Roman governor for high office in 
the Jewish Church, as the men most pliant for the 
purposes of the conqueror. Caiphas, "high-priest 
of that year ' ' destined to be the last year of the 
ancient covenant, had been intruded into that holy 
office by the pagan rulers of Israel. He held his 
place from year to year, or rather at the will of 
the governor. The rightful high-priest was Annas, 
the father-in-law of Caiphas. These two, one the 
appointee of the conqueror and the other the right- 
ful incumbent but a most unworthy son of Aaron, 
worked together. Caiphas was known to the Jews 
as acting in accord with his father-in-law, and so was 
tolerated by them ; but both were in the pay of the 
Romans and were apt for any iniquity, being traitors 
in politics and Sadducees in doctrine. 

The members of the Sanhedrin were nearly all 
Pharisees, genuine sectarians, carried away by a mon- 
strous exaggeration of the outward forms of the Jewish 
religion, to which they and their predecessors had 
added innumerable observances of their own invention. 
They were religious spies upon the whole people, and 



ONE MAN SHOULD DIE FOR THE PEOPLE. 



493 



"THEY DEVISED TO PUT HIM TO DEATH." 

The chief priests therefore and the 
Pharisees gathered a council, and said : 
What do we, for this man doth many- 
miracles ? If we let him alone so, all will 
believe in him, and the Romans will come, 
and take away our place and nation. But 
one of them named Caiphas, being the 
high-priest that year, said to them : You 
know nothing. Neither do you consider 
that it is expedient for you that one man 
should die for the people, and that the 
whole nation perish not. And this he 
spoke not of himself : but being the high- 
priest of that year, he prophesied that 
Jesus should die for the nation. And not 
only for the nation, but to gather together 
in one the children of God, that were dis- 
persed. From that day therefore they 
devised to put him to death. 



with a sort of voluntary organiza- 
tion dominated the race. They ab- 
horred the Sadducees, and rightly, 
on account of their doctrinal errors ; 
but they feared them also, for they 
were entrenched in the high-priest- 
hood, were the tools of the Romans, 
and, if not numerous, were yet 
powerful by reason of their wealth, 
ability, and activity. 

Both parties were against the 
Messias ; the Sadducees because they 
knew that any religious commotion, 
or indeed wide-spread movement of any kind, would be 
treated by the Romans with instant and cruel severity — 
sweeping them out of their fat places, and perhaps 
extinguishing the feeble remnants of national life upon 
which they fed. The Pharisees were ripe for sedition. 
They were also zealous for the law, and 
were reformers ; but they would not be 
led by Jesus of Nazareth, who was totally 
opposed to them and averse to all blood- 
shed. He held them up in His discourses 
as the specimen sinners of the world. He 
scorned in principle and practice their 
most sacred observances. If He loved 
the people — thus they reasoned — it was 
not chiefly because they were Jews but 
because they were children of God. He 
loved foreigners and Samaritans as much 
as He did the seed of Abraham. He re- 
leased the people from time-honored re- 
ligious observances. He dared to face the 
leaders of the orthodox Jews, to confute 
| them from -^nripture, to command obedi- 




If we let Him alone so, all will 
believe in Him," 



494 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

ence to Himself as the only begotten Son of God, to 
proclaim a kingdom and set it up without armies or 
bloodshed — and He was a stupendous success. The 
Pharisees deliberately preferred the Romans to Jesus. 

From motives mixed and various, therefore, both 
parties in the official council of Judaism hated Jesus 
more than they hated each other. Their actual legal 
power was small, for the Roman authority was supreme 
in every sphere. But the Sanhedrin could speak pri- 
vately to the people and mislead them ; could poison 
the mind of the governor against Jesus ; could work 
on Pilate's fears or inflame his anger. Hence, after 
hearing of the great miracle at Bethany, which was 
almost a suburb of the city, they called a meeting : 
" The chief priests, therefore, and the Pharisees, 
gathered a council and said : What do we, for this 
Man doth many miracles? If we let Him alone so, all 
men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come 
and take away our place and nation." 

Therein spoke the Sadducees, time-servers and 
trimmers. Little is known of the details of the subse- 
quent discussion, a few lines in St. John's Gospel be- 
ing all the record. Apparently a hopeless clashing of 
schemes and suggestions was the result. It may have 
been that Nicodemus and other friends of Jesus pleaded 
timidly against the murder which all the rest were bent 
upon committing. But at last "Caiphas, being the 
high-priest that year, said to them : You know noth- 
ing. Neither do you consider that it is expedient for 
you that one man should die for the people, and that 
the whole nation perish not." He fancied that he was 
but showing a way out of their perplexity by suggest- 
ing the death of Jesus as a sacrifice to save worse 
slaughter. Little did he dream that he spoke by in- 
stinct of the Holy Ghost, as the false-hearted Balaam 



THE UNJUST JUDGE. 495 

had done before him : * ' And this he spoke not of him- 
self, but being the high-priest of that year, he prophe- 
sied that Jesus should die for the nation. And not 
only for the nation, but to gather together in one the 
children of God that were dispersed." It was a divine 
irony to cause the prophecy Jesus Himself had made, 
and which indeed had been made of old by the Hebrew 
prophets, to be promulgated officially by the head of 
the Jewish religion amid the high council of the San- 
hedrim 

And thus Jesus was condemned to death by the 
Jews, without trial, or witnesses, or any formality of 
law: "From that day, therefore, they devised to put 
Him to death." They accomplished their purpose 
after nearly six weeks of hard struggle against the 
people's love, and against the sense of justice even of a 
Roman governor. 

The Saviour knew their purpose full well : ' ' Where- 
fore Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews, 
but He went into a country near the desert, unto a city 
that is called Bphrem, and there He abode with His 
disciples." 



CHAPTER LXXXI. 

THE UNJUST JUDGE WHO HEARD THE WIDOW'S PRAYER. 

Luke xviii. 1-8. 

" Wherefore Jesus walked no more openly among 
the Jews." His time was near at hand, but He had to 
teach many things to His Apostles and disciples, and 
therefore He so arranged His journeys and His tarry- 
ings as to escape from observation. To the north of 
Jericho lay a desert place, on the borders of which, as 
we remember, the Saviour had spent His time of 
preparation and temptation nearly three years before. 



496 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

To a town adjacent to this region of congenial quiet 
He now retired with His followers, " into a city that 
is called Ephrem, and there He abode with His dis- 
ciples." 

This placed Him just within the limits of Samaria ; 
outside, therefore, of the circle of 
His enemies' fiercest hatred, which 
centred in Judea. The little city- 
gave Him and His a refuge in 
which He could safely teach ; the 
desert at its gates was an inviting 
solitude for His long communings 
with His Father, preparatory to His 
supreme hour. Prayer was His 
habitual consolation, and His pur- 
pose was to make it the common- 
place of His religion. He gave a 
singularly powerful illustration of 
God's readiness to answer prayer. 
It is doubtless the fruit of one of His own excursions 
into the solitary places of the neighborhood to ^ r2i Y 
for His Apostles and for all mankind against the 
enemies of their souls. 

The last sentence touches the weak spot in men's 
praying— their lack of confidence in God. It was es- 
pecially applicable to the Apostles, who in the ap- 
proaching crisis would be found wanting for lack of 
trustful faith in their Master. 



" SHE IS TROUBLESOME TO ME." 

And he spoke also a parable to them, 
that we ought always to pray, and not to 
faint. Saying : There was a judge in a 
certain city, who feared not God, nor 
regarded man. And there was a cer- 
tain widow in that city, and she came 
to him, saying: Avenge me of my ad- 
versary. And he would not for a long 
time. But afterward he said within him- 
self : Although I fear not God, nor regard 
man, yet because this widow is trouble- 
some to me, I will avenge her, lest con- 
tinually coming she weary me. And the 
Lord said : Hear what the unjust judge 
saith. And will not God revenge his elect 
who cry to him day and night : and will 
he have' patience in their regard ? I say to 
you that he will quickly revenge them. 
But yet the son of man when he cometh, 
shall he find, think you, faith on earth? 



SENDING OF THE SEVENTY-TWO DISCIPLES, 497 
CHAPTER LXXXII. 

THE SENDING OF THE SEVENTY-TWO DISCIPLES. 
Matt. xi. 25-2J ; Luke x. 1-24.. 

As He approached the end, our Lord felt more 
and more painfully the immensity of the task which 
the Father had laid upon Him. He and His twelve 
Apostles seemed to Him like a farmer and his 
sons endeavoring to save a harvest so generous that 
with their utmost labor the greater part would be 
lost before they could reap and gather it in. And 
oh what a calamity is the loss of an immortal soul ! 
What a yearning of heart was His for perishing souls ! 
This yearning He communicates to us by a powerful 
movement of His grace inspiring that peculiar grace 
called the love of souls, giving what is known as 
the Apostolic vocation. This is nothing less than 
the Holy Spirit, in Its procession from the Father 
and the Son, taking up in Its course the created 
spirit and breathing into it the divine love of souls. 

While training His Apostles, who were to be dis- 
tinguished from all others, both by their office and 
their supernatural gifts, Jesus associated to them 
seventy-two disciples. These were picked men, faithful 
followers of the Lord, but not Apostles. They were 
the first of that countless multitude of Christ's lovers, 
called by their office as parent or teacher, or by 
their learning, or their wealth and social station, to 
share the labors and merits of the episcopate and 
priesthood, though not gifted with the Apostolic 
sacrament of Holy Orders. Or it may be said that 
they were in a special manner the pioneer members 
of the Christian priesthood ; these have indeed the 
Apostolic sacrament, but not in its fulness ; and they 



498 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

partake of that fulness in toil and in merit by being 
associated to the bishops, the lineal successors of 
the Apostles. 

These seventy-two Jesus sent in pairs before Him 
into the villages and towns to prepare the people for 
His coming, addressing to them an exhortation quite 
similar to that given the Apostles a year before in 
Galilee. He gave them the power of miracles, and 
they were directed to announce the Kingdom of God, 
the reign of the Messias. He gazed fondly upon 
the little band as they stood ready to depart, and 
with a deep sigh He said : ' ' The harvest indeed is 
great, but the laborers are few." Not only the 
numerous people of Israel did His 
soul count against these few messen- 
gers of the Glad Tidings, but His 
spirit ranged over the whole world 
and its myriads of souls, each one in 
need of His doctrine of eternal life. 
Then follows an injunction which 
has been most gladly obeyed b}^ the 
faithful children of God ever since, 
prayer for vocations: "Pray ye 
therefore the Lord of the harvest, 



"NEITHER PURSE NOR SCRIP. ' 

Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor 
shoes; and salute no man by the way. 
Into whatsoever house you enter, first say : 
Peace be to this house : And if the son 
of peace be there, your peace shall rest 
upon him : but if not, it shall return to 
you. And in the same house remain, eat- 
ing and drinking such things as they have. 
For the laborer is worthy of his hire. Re- 
move not from house to house. And into 
what city soever you enter, and they re- 
ceive you, eat such things as are set before 
you: And heal the sick that are therein, 
and say to them : The kingdom of God is 
come nigh unto you. 



that He send laborers into His harvest." 

The heroic side of the Apostolate and its peace- 
ful character were joined in His words, "Go! Be- 
hold I send you as lambs among wolves." And then 
the spirit of detachment from the comforts of this 
world, and even from its necessaries, was inculcated 
Nothing conduces to persuasion like unselfish 
devotion to one's cause. Nothing, on the other 
hand, so much hinders persuasion as the suspicion 
of interested motives. Our Saviour is always return 
ing to this detachment from money, and especially 



SENDING OF THE SEVENTY-TWO DISCIPLES. 499 

on the part of those who stand for Him among the 
people. Let such a one take God's calling as His 
only wealth, and His eloquence is resistless to all 
upright hearts. Who can resist a pleader for Christ, 
whose word of truth is presented by the beautiful 
argument of contempt for money ? Those who do 
resist are self-condemned and may expect exemplary 
punishment. Our Saviour shows this, as He teaches : 
" But into whatsoever city you enter, and they 
receive you not, going forth into the streets thereof, 
say : Even the very dust of your city that cleaveth to 
us we wipe off against you. Yet know this, that the 
kingdom of God is at hand. I say to you, it shall 
be more tolerable at that day for Sodom, than for 
that city. And when they shall persecute you in 
one city, flee into another. Amen I say to you, you 
shall not finish the cities of Israel, till the Son of 
Man come." 

Afterwards, when the seventy-two disciples began 
to return and make their reports they were full of 
joy, especially because the evil spirits could not 
resist them. Our Saviour was glad ; but He warned 
them against the vanity which lurks in the con- 
sciousness of supernatural gifts, and too often gives 
entrance to the worst of demons, spiritual pride : 
11 And the seventy-two returned with joy, saying : 
Lord, the devils also are subject to us in Thy name. 
And He said to them : I saw Satan like lightning 
falling from heaven. Behold, I have given \ou power 
to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all 
the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 
But yet rejoice not in this, that spirits are subject 
unto you : but rejoice in this, that your names are 
written in heaven." 

The simplicity of His disciples, their childlike 



500 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

candor, their btraightforward and literal acceptance 
of His commands, was all so pleasing to Jesus that 
He overflowed with the joy of the Holy Ghost in 
a prayer of thanksgiving. How highly honored are 
those for whom Jesus thanks His Father! The 
reader will notice the teaching of the Three Persons 
in One God enfolded in these majestic sentences : 

" In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy 
Ghost, and said : I confess to Thee, O Father, I^ord 
of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hidden these 
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed 
them to little ones. Yea, Father, for so it hath 
seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered 
to Me by My Father, and no one knoweth who the 
Son is but the Father ; and who the Father is but 
the Son, and to whom the Son will reveal Him. And 
turning to His disciples, He said : Blessed are the 
eyes that see the things which you see. For I say 
to you that many prophets and kings have desired to 
see the things that you see, and have not seen them ; 
and to hear the things that you hear, and have not 
heard them." 

In the fulness of His heart Jesus longed that all 
mankind might receive the Glad Tidings. His 
promise is especially addressed to those who bend 
beneath the yoke of sin: " Come to Me all you that 
labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take 
up My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, because I am 
meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to 
your souls ; for My yoke is sweet and My burden 
is light." This is one of our Saviour's great say- 
ings, and it is like oil poured out for the joy of mul- 
titudes of despairing souls. The servitude of Chris- 
tian virtue is a delicious freedom, a sweet yoke; the 
liberty of the flesh is slavery, a galling yoke. 



WHERE ARE THE NINE? 



501 




CHAPTER LXXXIII. 

"where ark the nine?" 
Luke xvii. n-rg. 
ROM what Jesus had said to the seventy-two 
disciples as to the places they should visit, 
we learn that His movements, following up 
their advance, took in a large circuit. Be- 
ing at the start within the borders of Sa- 
maria at Ephrem, He, if we understand St. 
Luke rightly, made His final journey to 
Jerusalem by a roundabout way. He passed through 
the midst of Samaria, touching even the borders of 
Galilee, and crossed the Jordan into the Perea. The 
placing of Samaria before Galilee in this statement of 
the Evangelist gives a greater probability to this view 
of His course. He was determined to give the poor 
schismatics and semi-pagans of Samaria a full share of 
attention. Of the many events which illustrated His 
power and His goodness in this journey, we have one 
which aids us greatly to practise the beautiful virtue 
of gratitude. 

There is a wonderful lesson in this 
incident. " Where are the nine ? " is 
God's question continually repeated. 
The equanimity of men in receiving 
the astounding gifts of God, not a rip- 
ple of excitement for pardon of beast- 
ly vice — pardon a thousand times re- 
newed, — scarcely a moment spent in 
thanks for the boon of life eternal, 
and this the usual rule and thanks 
the rare exception, make the duty of 
thanksgiving a theme very necessary 
for instruction and meditation. 



THE RARE VIRTUE OF GRATITUDE. 

And it came to pass, as he was going to 
Jerusalem, he passed through the midst of 
Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered 
into a certain town, there met him ten 
men that were lepers, who stood afar off, 
and lifted up their voice, saying : Jesus, 
Master, have mercy on us. Whom when 
he saw, he said : Go, shew yourselves to 
the priests. And it came to pass, as they 
went, they were made clean. And one of 
them when he saw that he was made clean, 
went back, with a loud voice glorifying 
God. And he fell on his face before his 
feet, giving thanks : and this was a Sama- 
ritan. And Jesus answering, said: Were 
not ten made clean ? and where are the 
nine ? There is no one found to return 
and give glory to God, but this stranger. 
And he said to him : Arise, go thy way ; 
for thy faith hath made thee whole. 




" Went back, with 
a loud voice glori- 
fying God." 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Leprosy, as we have seen elsewhere in our jour- 
neyings with Jesus, was made a sort of religious un- 
cleanness, besides its misfortune as a loathsome con- 
tagion. Now, this Samaritan, more unclean than a 
leper in the eyes of the Jews, both priests and people, 
not only gave thanks for his cure but obeyed his 
benefactor and went to the priests for inspection. He 
threw off his schism and his heresy when Jesus 
cleansed him of his leprosy. He alone of the ten 
returned to Jesus, openly and with a loud voice 
declaring his faith and giving thanks, caring nothing 
for what his Samaritan family and friends might do 
or think. His reward was a deep rooting of faith : 
" Arise, go thy way ; thy faith hath made thee whole." 
That group of ten lepers stands for all humanity. 
The many receive benefits, the few return thanks. 
These obtain more than any others the priceless gift 
of increased faith. 



CHAPTER LXXXIV. 

THE LABORERS HIRED AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR. 

Matt. xix. jo, and xx. 1-16. 

Jesus taught at this time how God the Father 
calls men and nations to the Kingdom of His Son, 
and also His absolute independence in thus granting 
the gift of faith and love. Trusting, as many did, in 
this or that human merit in God's sight, and claiming 
for that reason to be first in the divine choice, Jesus 
says that such self-trustful ones shall be last. To 
the Jews, especially, He laid down the doctrine that 
the priority of their call, in the person of Abraham, 
did not give their race a superior claim above the 
Gentiles : to cherish such a delusion would result in 



NOT MA ATS MERIT BUT GOD'S CHOICE. 



5o3 



bitter disappointment. He said: "And many that 
are first shall te last, and the last shall be first." 

According to His usual method, He illustrated this 
truth of God's total freedom from obligation to man 
in conferring the grace of the true religion, by a 

familiar example. At that season . 

of spring-time, as Jesus and His 



party passed through the towns and 
villages they saw groups of men 
waiting to be hired. These, with 
their tools in their hands, were 
standing about the market-places, 
and now and again a proprietor 
would come, pick out his men and 
start back to his farm or vineyard. 
Many of these farm-hands were scat- 
tered among our Saviour's hearers, 
as He paused to teach at their place 
of waiting. The simplicity of the 
example aided men to understand 
the wonderful doctrine of ' ' elec- 
tion," or vocation to divine grace. 
No one can interpret this parable 
to mean that the rewards of heaven 
shall be equal in all cases. No, for 
in many places the Master speaks 
of particular merit for particular vir- 
tue, in accordance with our inborn 
sense of the vast difference between 
the innocent babe and the heroic 
martyr. What our Saviour means 
is God's freedom in the call to grace. 
He teaches that what goes first in 
not man's merit but God's choice. 



" GO YOU INTO MY VINEYARD." 

The kingdom of heaven is like to an 
householder, who went out early in the 
morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. 
And having agreed with the laborers for 
a penny a day, he sent them into his vine- 
yard. And going out about the third 
hour, he saw others standing in the market- 
place idle. And he said to them : Go you 
also into my vineyard, and I will give you 
what shall be just. And they went their 
way. And again he went out about the 
sixth and the ninth hour : and did in like 
manner. But about the eleventh hour he 
went out and found others standing, and 
he saith to them : Why stand you here all 
the day idle ? They say to him : Because 
no man hath hired us. He saith to them : 
Go ye also into my vineyard. And when 
evening was come, the lord of the vine- 
yard saith to his steward : Call the laborers 
and pay them their hire, beginning from 
the last even to the first. When therefore 
they were come that came about the 
eleventh hour, they received every man 
a penny. But when the first also came, 
they thought that they should receive 
more : and they also received every man 
a penny. And receiving it they murmured 
against the master of the house. Saying : 
These last have worked but one hour, and 
thou hast made them equal to us, that 
have borne the burden of the day and the 
heats. But he answering said to one of 
them : Friend, I do thee no wrong : didst 
thou not agree with me for a penny ? 
Take what is thine, and go thy way. I 
will also give to this last even as to thee. 
Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I 
will ? is thy eye evil, because I am good ? 
So shall the last be first, and the first last. 
For many are called, but few chosen. 



IS 



saving souls 
God calls every 
one with an equal purpose to save, and to each one 



504 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

He gives grace for salvation. But once that grace is 
given, its recipients begin to merit by its means, 
and their merit differs widely. And how does it 
differ ? Those who fancied that the Master called 
them because their race was His favored one, or 
because their natural virtue attracted Him, will find 
that this first place exists only in their self-righteous 
imagination, and they shall be least in the kingdom 
of God. Those who lay aside as a temptation all 
thought of personal merit, will find a power of God 
within them placing them under a spell of love and 
trustfulness and light peculiar to the humble. Work- 
ing by the aid ot grace, man works with God's 
righteousness, and receives his reward on the score 
of justice. But work as he will before grace has 
sanctified him, God's justice owes him nothing ; such 
a man is wholly in the order of mercy. Whatever 
soreness of heart he may feel at the advancement 
of others is caused by delusion: "Is it not lawful 
for Me to do what I will ? Is thy eye evil because I 
am good ? ' ' 

This is the call of all peoples to the faith of 
Jesus Christ, without distinction of previous racial 
or historical or personal merit. The market-place is 
the world, and the Master of the vineyard going out 
to select His servants is Jesus Christ. His Divine 
Spirit calls the Jewish race first, then the Samaritan, 
then the nations everywhere. In the end what was 
first in time is outstripped and left last in honor. 

It is not otherwise with individuals. Nicodemus, 
doctor of the law and member of the Sanhedrin, 
creeps in the shadow of the poor fisherman. Great 
philosophers are rejected from the high places and 
humble peasants are preferred. Even those whose 
lives have always been innocent are often outstripped 



NOT MAN'S MERIT BUT GOD'S CHOICE. 505 

by penitent sinners, examples of the Apostle's dogma, 
"It is not of him that willeth nor of him that 
runneth, but of God who sheweth mercy." 
! All of which was gall and wormwood to the Jews, 
whose blood was their faith, whose history was their 
boast before heaven. It is also a hard doctrine for 
certain races and families even in Christian times, 
who would set the rest of the world off from them- 
selves as being rated as of lower grade by God the 
Holy Ghost "hiring laborers into His vineyard." 
These assume that by their natural gifts they are 
God's best choice. The truth is otherwise, for God 
is able to raise up children to Himself out of stocks 
and stones, and chooses whom He will. 

When this truth is made the foundation of per- 
sonal virtue, it enables the Christian to acquire real 
merit with wonderful facility, for it is the virtue of 
humility that is rewarded with that love which makes 
us one with Christ. It absorbs us in Christ. In our 
miseries it nails us with Christ to the cross. In our 
joys we rise again with Christ unto newness of life. 
Christ lives in us and we live in Christ. 
And this and this alone is the Christian 
doctrine of merit. 

It may be asked: Do the words, "But 
few are chosen," mean that the number who 
shall attain to Heaven is small ? We answer 
that many have believed so. But others are 
of opinion that our Saviour taught by these 
words that few attain to the greatness of 
merit and the degree of reward which is set ^Fhey received every man 
apart for the specially humble. a penny." 




506 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER LXXXV. 

RICHES AND POVERTY, AND CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 

Matt. xix. 16-26 ; Mark x. 17-28; Luke xviii. 18-28. 

" And when He was gone forth into the way, 
a certain man running up and kneeling before Him, 
asked Him : Good Master, what shall I do that I 
may receive life everlasting? And Jesus said to him : 
Why callest thou Me good ? None is good but one, 
God." Why did the Saviour rebuke this man? It 
is uncertain whether it was to elicit an act of faith 
in His divinity, or to chide him for using the term 
" Good Master," as an idle and unmeaning formality. 
This impulsive person was not of a deeply religious 
nature, and therefore needed to be turned inward 
to a careful scrutiny of his motives. " But if thou 
wilt enter into life keep the commandments. But he 
said to Him, Which?" Perhaps he dreamed of some 
ready-made system of law which would save him 
as by a physician's recipe. Jesus held him down 
to commonplace good behavior, not even naming 
the sublimer duties of the soul to God in prayer 
and worship and love: "Thou shalt do no murder. 
Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not 
steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Honor 
thy father and thy mother ; and thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself." 

A momentary triumph for the enthusiastic man 
was gained by the application of this rule. Though 
a mediocre character, he was true to his neighbor 
on every point. He exclaimed: "All these have I 
kept from my youth; what is yet wanting in me?" 
The interrogatory form but emphasized his boast: 
nothing is wanting to me. Now, supposing him to 



RICHES AND POVERTY. 



507 



be as true to God as he was true to man — and he 
deserved this latter praise — what really was wanting ? 
The heroic spirit. He must not only love God and 
his neighbor, but he must be ready to give up all 

things for their sake. Many an en- r- 

thusiast would pose as a hero ; yet 
he performs only ordinarily good 
actions, though he does so with os- 
tentation. I^et him do no more than 
is necessary to salvation but with a 
spirit standing in readiness for any 
extraordinary call of God, and he is 
a perfect man. The test of perfec- 
tion is not in what one does, much 
or little, but in the mighty purpose 
to do everything, as soon as God's 
Spirit points the way. This test our 
young man failed to stand. Good 
as he was and worthy of our Sav- 
iour's love, he had riches and he 
was attached to them : " And Jesus 
looking on him loved him and said 
to him : One thing is wanting unto 
thee ; if thou wilt be perfect, go, 
sell all whatever thou hast, and give 
to the poor, and thou shalt have 
treasure in heaven, and come, follow 
Me. And when the young man had 
heard this word y he went away sad, 
for he had great possessions." 

He was gone, his lesson unlearn- 
ed ! " And Jesus seeing him become sad, looking round 
about, saith to His disciples : How hardly shall thej- 
that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God ! " The 
deceitfulness of riches must be learned by the disciples 



THE SCIENCE OF RELIGIOUS ECONOMY. 

And when he was gone forth into the 
way, a certain man running up and kneel- 
ing before him, asked him : Good Master, 
what shall I do that I may receive life ever- 
lasting ? And Jesus said to him : Why 
callest thou me good? None is good but 
one, God. But if thou wilt enter into life 
keep the Commandments. But he said to 
him : Which ? And Jesus said : Thou 
shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not com- 
mit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou 
shalt not bear false witness. Honor thy 
father and thy mother ; and thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself. The young 
man saith to him : All these have I kept 
from my youth ; what is yet wanting to 
me ? And Jesus looking on him loved 
him and said to him: One thing is want- 
ing unto thee ; if thou wilt be perfect, go, 
sell all whatever thou hast, and give to 
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in 
heaven, and come, follow me. And when 
the young man had heard this word, he 
went away sad, for he had great pos 
sessions. And Jesus seeing him become 
sad, looking round about, saith to his 
disciples : How hardly shall they that have 
riches enter into the Kingdom of God ! 
And the disciples were astonished at his 
words. But Jesus again answering, saith 
to them : Children, how hard it is for them 
that trust in riches to enter into the King- 
dom of God ! It is easier for a camel to 
pass through the eye of a needle, than for 
a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of 
God. Who wondered the more, saying 
among themselves : Who then can be 
saved ? And Jesus looking on them, 
saith : With men it is impossible, but not 
with God ; for all things are possible with 
God. 



508 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

— Jesus was bound to make sure of that. It is a 
lesson that is hard to flesh and blood. Even religion 
is tempted to gather wealth and lay store by it as 
a help towards God. Ever since Christendom was 
divided in the sixteenth century, those that then 
went wrong have boasted of worldly prosperity as a 
mark of divine favor. Under the old law this was 
a true sign, for then the gifts of time were made 
marks of eternal favor, because of the weakness of 
human nature in those days. But Jesus changed all 
that, and for Christian men and women taken sepa- 
rately, as well as for Christian communities, the true 
doctrine is placed and stands for ever : " How hardly 
shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom 
of God!" 

Nor was it easy for even the disciples to take in 
the full meaning of this fundamental law of Religious 
Economy : ' ' And the disciples were astonished at 
His words." They were yet school children in the 
divine teaching. Our Saviour felt this, and so 
"again answering, He saith to them: Children, how 
hard it is for th»m that trust in riches to enter into 
the Kingdom of God." This shows that if one pos- 
sesses riches and trusts not in them, but in God 
who is their first and last owner, he does not fall 
under the curse. But if he is the ordinary rich man, 
the one whose character is formed by striving after 
wealth and by consciousness of its possession, and who 
trusts to wealth for his joy, then he may be saved 
only by an impossibility. We appeal to God for a 
miracle to save such a one. " It is easier," exclaimed 
the Master, "for a camel to pass through the eye of 
a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the King- 
dom of God. [The disciples] wondered the more, 
saying among themselves : Who then can be saved ? 



THIS LIFE AND LIFE EVERLASTING. 



509 



And Jesus looking on them, saith : With men it 
is impossible, but not with God ; for all things 
are possible with God." Our Lord does not, of 
course, mean that one ma3' trust in riches to the 
end and still be saved. But that however certain 
the injury done to the soul by riches, corrupting it 
by placing its end and object in this life, substituting 
the love of money and of power and of luxury and of 
sensuality in place of the love 
of God — in spite of this usual 
effect of riches upon the soul, 
God can make exceptions. He 
can give extraordinary graces, 
He can send sickness and death 
and disappointment, terrible and 
often successful messengers of 
love. He can make riches them- 
selves a means of grace. But 
this is the exception ; for the 
rule is that riches corrupt the 
heart of man and obscure his 
mind, hinder his salvation and often make it impossible, 




" And Jesus looking on him loved him." 



CHAPTER LXXXVI. 

THE HUNDRED-FOLD IN THIS LIFE AND LIFE EVER- 
LASTING HEREAFTER. 

Matt. xix. 27-29 ; Mark x. 29-30 ; Lukexviii. 20-30. 

The failure of one man is the disheartenment of 
another. But if this is the rule, it is not without 
exceptions. The more generous nature is but roused 
to nobler daring by the spectacle of another's 
cowardice. It was so in the case of the Apostles of 
Christ, who gazed upon the departing figure of the 



5io 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



rich young man with great contempt for his pusillan- 
imity. As usual, it was Peter who spoke their common 
feeling: "Then Peter answering, said to Him: Be- 
hold, we have left all things and have followed Thee; 
what therefore shall we have ? ' ' Doubtless there 
was some self-conceit in this question, but Jesus 
knew the good hearts of His chosen band, and 
immediately told them their great 
reward : " Amen I say to you, that 
you who have followed Me, in the 
regeneration, when the Son of Man 
shall sit on the seat of His majesty, 
you also shall sit on twelve seats, 
judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 
These Galileans had not left much, 
as rich men would reckon it, but it 
was their all. A few nets, a hum- 
ble cottage, a small patch of ground, 
the company of unlettered kindred 
—what was this to give up for 
the great honor of the Apostleship ? Everything to 
those who had nothing more. Furthermore, it is 
the motive that gauges the merit of a deed. What 
the Apostles had given up was equal to a monarch's 
palace and court in the eyes of Jesus, for they had 
done it out of love for Him. Their tears at parting 
with home and kindred were precious to Him, because 
they had chosen Him above father and mother and 
child. 

Their reward was that He should be worth more 
to them than any fortune, and dearer than any 
natural kindred. That is what is meant by His say- 
ing, as He continued the balance sheet, that the very 
persecutions they should suffer would be a higher 
joy to them than the home comforts and the family 



44 WHAT, THEREFORE, SHALL WE HAVE?" 

Then Peter answering, said to him : Be- 
hold, we have left all things and have fol- 
lowed thee; what therefore shall we 
have ? And Jesus said to them: Amen I 
say to you, that you who have followed 
me, in the regeneration, when the Son of 
Man shall sit on the seat of his majesty, 
you also shall sit on twelve seats, judging 
the twelve tribes of Israel. Amen 1 say 
to you, there is no man who hath left 
house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or 
mother, or children, or lands, for my sake, 
and for the Gospel, who shall not receive 
an hundred times as much now in this time 
— houses and brethren and sisters and 
mothers and children and lands, with per- 
secutions ; and in the world to come, life 
everlasting. 



THE SA CRA MEN T OF MA TR1M0N Y. 511 

and the joys of less heroic spirits — a hundredfold 
more, even in this life. Sadly had Jesus spoken to 
the timid rich man ; joyfully did He hail these brave 
poor men as His associate judges in the day of the 
world's reckoning. 




CHAPTER LXXXVII. 

THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY. 

Matt. xix. 1-9 ; Mark x. 1-12. 

UR Saviour's purpose to elevate mankind 
to a higher order of life is in no way 
more plainly shown than by His legis- 
lation on marriage. He restored the 
marital relation to its original condi- 
tion, which is the equality of husband 
and wife. This necessarily excludes 
a plurality of wives, and makes divorce from the 
marriage bond unlawful. All the rights of the man 
and of the woman are equal, save his prerogative 
of authority in the household. Good order requires 
that the woman should obey her husband, but this 
is not the submission of a lower to a higher grade 
of being, but the loving conformity due to an 
equal on account of the superior force inherent in 
the male sex. This, however, is counterbalanced 
by the allegiance the man pays to certain superior 
virtues of the woman, such as sympathy, patience, 
and gentleness. If the husband rules the wife by 
power, he is in turn subject to her by reason of 
her winning qualities. And, again, she rules all 
because she rules the children. This equality of 
natural prerogatives Jesus determined to safeguard 
by the holiest sanctions of religion, and therefore He 



512 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament of the 
New Law. 

From the highest place in all natural institutions 
He elevated it to a supernatural condition— the re- 
lation ®f man and wife in the Church of Christ is a 
divine one, a sacrament among sacraments. In the 
religion of Jesus Marriage ranks with Baptism which 
is the door of heaven, with the Eucharist which is 
the embrace of the Son of God, with the Apostolic 
sacrament of Holy Order, with the sacrament of 
Penance which is the cleansing of the soul in the 
blood of the Lamb. And, furthermore, as Christian 
Baptism is the new birth of the individual, so has 
Christian marriage been the new birth of society. 
The Christian family has been the germ of the Chris- 
tian state. 

The subject of marriage had been treated of 
previously by the Divine Teacher, but it came up 
again as Jesus was leaving the borders of Galilee 
and Samaria and going eastward, passing over the 
Jordan, making the circuit, already mentioned, which 
was to end in Jerusalem. He healed many sick 
persons on His journey ; the fame of which, as well 
as His entering a land well traversed by caravans, 
brought Him more into contact with the Pharisees. 
They had doubtless heard rumors of the strictness 
of His doctrine on marriage, going as it did far 
beyond the Jewish rule, and rescinding all the 
Mosaic reasons for divorce. This was an offence to 
them, for they shared to the full the Oriental views 
on woman and her relations to man ; they hardly 
held even to the dispensations of Moses. 

The question of divorce, St. Matthew tells us, was 
one on which they hoped to gain a cause of accusa- 
tion. "Is it lawful," they asked, "for a man to 



THE SACRAMENT OF MA TRIMONY. 513 

put away his wife for every cause ? ' ' Our Saviour 
in answering drew from them the legality of divorce 
under the law, and then without the least hesitation 
He abrogated it : " He saith to them : What did Moses 
command you ? Who said : Moses permitted to write 
a bill of divorce, and to put her away. To whom 
Jesus answering, said : By reason of the hardness of 
your heart he wrote you that precept." 

Here our Saviour touched them to the quick. He 
could not elevate woman without disclosing the 
sensuality of man. God through Moses had permitted 
divorce for grave reasons, interpreted by the most 
reasonable school of Jewish Scribes as meaning adul- 
tery or its equivalent. Under more lax interpreta- 
tion abuses had grown up, until in our L,ord's time 
the wife might, under cover of the law, be made the 
victim of the husband's caprice, or of his lust for 
another woman. There was in His day no plurality 
of wives, which though lawful in the letter had been 
gradually abolished by the spirit of the Mosaic dis- 
pensation. But the evil of divorce was general and 
notorious. It was, indeed, protested against by the 
better-minded and led to much controversy among 
the doctors of the law, which sometimes waxed 
furious ; but the miserable fact remained, however 
much the doctors discussed : men put away their 
wives without any serious difficulty. To involve 
Jesus in the dispute, and to openly array Him against 
the licentious men in power, was the purpose of this 
questioning. 

Marriage questions are often complicated. But the 
Christian foundation principle is simple. Christ taught 
it plainly, and, furthermore, He thereby reaffirmed 
the original teaching of God to man in the marriage 
of Adam and Eve. It is the twofold quality of 



5H LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

matrimony, that is to say, monogamy and perpetuity. 
One man and one woman make the marriage state 
as God wills it in the kingdom of His Son, as He 
willed it at the beginning. That these two, once 
validly joined, shall possess exclusive right to each 
other until separated by death, is the divine law 
of perpetuity. Both of these rules had been relaxed 
under the old dispensation, which permitted divorce 
for cause of adultery, and allowed remarriage, and also 
permitted a plurality of wives. Jesus put an end to 
this. He restored monogamy and perpetuity to the 
marriage relation. The main question was about 
divorce, because, as we have noted, polygamy had 
long ceased among the Jews. 

The affirmation of perpetuity was solemn and 
decisive: "Have you not read, that He who made 
man from the beginning made them male and female? " 
We are struck by the use of the word man, in the 
singular number, ;in the first clause of this sentence, 
in the plural number in the second clause. So that 
literally Jesus makes the one man to be the union 
of the male and female — a singularly powerful style 
of teaching the law of marital unity. He continued : 
* ' For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, 
and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be 
in one flesh." He drives home His doctrine by the 
emphasis of repetition, and by the invocation of God 
as the author of the union, — the imprecation of God's 
anger upon separation : ' ' Therefore now they are not 
two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined 
together, let no man put asunder." 

Men may unmake human contracts according to 
the conditions agreed upon by themselves. But 
marriage is God's work, and its perpetuity is un- 
conditional ; it can be broken only by God Himself in 



THE SACRAMENT OF MA TRIMONY. 



5*5 



the decree of death. The Jews felt 
this to be both an innovation and 
a hardship. If union with a single 
woman in perpetual wedlock be dif- 
ficult to the cold-blooded European, 
it is much more so to the Oriental : 
"They said to Him" (once more 
appealing to their ancient law- 
giver) : "Why then did Moses 
command to give a bill of divorce 
and to put away? " Our Saviour 
insisted on the reason already given : 
1 ' Because Moses by reason of the 
hardness of your heart permitted 
you to put away your wives, but 
from the beginning it was not so." 
And now, as our Saviour con- 
tinued His explanation, He fore- 
stalled an objection. For, it might 
and would be asked, shall there be 
no relief for a husband or wife in- 
jured by the adultery of an un- 
faithful partner ? Yes, every relief 
consistent with the perpetuity of the marriage relation. 
Adultery, the fornication of one or other of the parties, 
if it does not sever the tie, yet forfeits all rights of sup- 
port, of affection, of company, and allows the putting 
away of the guilty one. The honor due to marital 
purity is honor due to God. While insisting, therefore, 
upon the sanctity and perpetuity of the marriage 
bond, our Saviour allows separation for cause of in- 
fidelity : "And I say to you, that whosoever shall 
iput away his wife, except it be for fornication, and 
shall marry another, committeth adultery, and he 
^that shall marry her that is put away, committeth 



"THEY ARE NOT TWO, BUT ONE FLESH." 

And there came to him the Pharisees, 
tempting him and saying : Is it lawful for 
a man to put away his wife for every 
cause ? But he answering, saith to them : 
What did Moses command you ? Who 
said : Moses permitted to write a bill of 
divorce, and to put her away. To whom 
Jesus answering, said : By reason of the 
hardness of your heart he wrote you that 
precept. Have you not read, that he 
who made man from the beginning made 
them male and female ? And he said : 
For this cause shall a man leave father 
and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, 
and they two shall be in one flesh. 
Therefore now they are not two, but one 
flesh. What therefore God hath joined to- 
gether, let no man put asunder. They 
said to him : Why then did Moses com- 
mand to give a bill of divorce and to put 
away ? He said to them : Because Moses 
by reason of the hardness of your heart 
permitted you to put away your wives, but 
from the beginning it was not so ; and I 
say to you, that whosoever shall put away 
his wife, except it be for fornication, and 
shall marry another, committeth adultery, 
and he that shall marry her that is put 
away, committeth adultery. And in the 
house, again his cfisciples asked him con- 
cerning the same thing. And he saith to 
them : Whosoever shall put away his wife 
and marry another, committeth adultery 
against her. And if the wife shall put 
away her husband and be married to an- 
other, she committeth adultery. 



516 LIFE OF JESVS CHRIST. 

adultery." So far St. Matthew reports the Master's 
teaching on this very grave subject. 

From the Evangelist's narrative many have fancied 
that divorce in the extreme meaning of the term, 
^totally annulling the union, was allowed for the one 
Icause of adultery. But the Church of Christ in all 
ages has taught otherwise. It is plain that the 
Church is right. For we do not find our Saviour 
allowing a second marriage either of the guilty or 
innocent party after the "putting away" for cause 
of adultery. No such leave is anywhere given in the 
New Testament. This is furthermore plain from St. 
Mark, who pieces out St. Matthew's account and fills 
it to its complete teaching. Read it, and see a simple 
rule laid down more privately to the disciples after 
,the general instruction. One cannot urge an implied 
^doctrine in contravention of an explicit one: "And 
\in the house, again His disciples asked Him con- 
cerning the same thing. And He saith to them : 
Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry an- 
other, committeth adultery against her. And if the 
wife shall put away her husband and be married to 
another, she committeth adultery." 

This teaching in St. Mark was given immediately 
after that recorded in St. Matthew, and was in- 
tended as a further explanation of the marriage 
dogma ; the omission in St. Mark of adultery as a 
reason for separation is, therefore, conclusive that 
adultery did not break the bond of marriage, though 
it allowed the putting away of the guilty party. 
Read, also, St. Luke's (xvi. 18) version of the 
Master's rule : " Every one that putteth away his 
wife and marrieth another committeth adultery, and 
he that marrieth her that is put away from her 
husband committeth adultery." So, also, taught St. 



CHRISTIAN VIRGINITY AND CELIBACY. 



517 



Paul (I. Cor. vii. 10, 11, and Romans vii. 2, 3), 
and the discipline of the Church has ever maintained 
as the authentic meaning of Christ the unconditional 
perpetuity of the marital relation during the life of 
its parties, allowing for mutual right of separation 
on account of adultery or other grave causes, though 
never the right of marrying again during the life- 
time of the other party. 



CHAPTER LXXXVIII. 



CHRISTIAN VIRGINITY AND CELIBACY. — JESUS AND 
LITTLE CHILDREN. 

Matt. Xix. 10-/5 ; Mark x. 13-16 ; Luke xviii. 15-17. 

^ *lj HEN Jesus taught the sanctity of mar- 
(o)// riage He appealed to the original reve- 
|SjK VV lation of God, and to the happy unity 
of man and wife in the unfallen hu- 
manity of our first parents. He also 
opened the brightest pages in the book 
of nature, those which tell of the 
human heart glowing with the highest 
natural joy in that union, one with 
one, which consecrates the best of 
man's gift to the best of woman's, ennobles both 
at the expense of neither, and provides in the Chris- 
tian home the sweetest and strongest training of our 
souls for good lives and happy deaths. His doctrine 
of marriage put an end for ever to divorce, for ever 
anchored fast in His religion the dignity of wife and 
husband, father and mother. He legislated for all 
ages and all races in the interests of the one only 
earthly paradise, the Christian family. 




518 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

It is strange that this view did not strike the 
Apostles at once. Instead of rejoicing at the eleva- 
tion of woman and the dignity of that state of life 
which sanctifies the sexual longing, the most fiery 
passion of human nature, the disciples could not for 
the moment rise above the common Jewish level. 
They saw their own sex losing one of its most 
cherished prerogatives — the right of divorce ; for it 
is the male that most greedily covets sexual license. 
Therefore they said to Jesus : "If the case of a 
man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to 
marry." 

Now this gave the Master an opportunity of dis- 
cussing the alternative of men and women marrying 
or of remaining single. Jesus loved 
the state of virginity most pro- 
foundly. His mother was from first 
to last a virgin, the Virgin of all 
religion and all history. Martha 
and Mary of Bethany were, the one 
a virgin, the other a penitent sin- 
gle woman ; they were joined to- 
gether in a community of work and 



"HE THAT CAN TAKE IT, LET HIM 
TAKE IT." 

His disciples say unto him : If the case 
of a man with his wife be so, it is not ex- 
pedient to marry. Who said to them : All 
men take not this word, but they to whom 
it is given. For there are eunuchs who 
were born so from their mother's womb, 
and there are eunuchs who were made so 
by men, and there are eunuchs who have 
made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom 
of Heaven. He that can take it, let him 
take it. 



prayer. From the beginning of His religion to our 
own day Christ's power over human nature's strong- 
est instinct is shown in the chastity of the men 
and women who are most exclusively devoted to the 
love of God and the service of God's people. The 
state of virginity thus becomes a state of holiness 
higher than even Christian matrimony. For those 
who are called to it by the inner voice of God, re- 
ligious virginity is a very special means of holiness. 
No doubt, practically considered, marriage is calcu- 
lated better to sanctify the mass of mankind than is 
virginity. But virginity is better calculated than 



CHRISTIAN VIRGINITY AND CELIBACY. 519 

marriage to sanctify the heroic souls whom God sets 
apart for the higher perfection — the chosen few. 
Later on Jesus will teach that one of the perfections 
of souls in Heaven is that ' ' they shall neither marry 
nor be married" there. 

Hence the Master makes the plain distinction be- 
tween the many, destined by God for marriage, and 
the few destined for celibacy: "All men," He an- 
swered His disciples, "take not this word, but they 
to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who 
were born so from their mother's womb, and there 
are eunuchs who were made so by men, and there 
are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for 
the Kingdom of Heaven." No one, then or now, could 
have taken our Lord to mean in 
His last use of the word eunuch 
anything else but a voluntary giving 
up of the natural right to marry. 
He teaches herein the Christian 
practice and doctrine of celibacy. 
It has been attached almost univer- 
sally to the priestly state — quite uni- 
versally in the West of Europe ; uni- 
versally to the episcopate, and to 
the community life of men and wo- 



WHAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS LIKE. 

Then were little children brought to 
him, that he should impose hands upon 
them and pray. And the disciples rebuked 
them that brought them ; whom when 
Jesus saw, he was much displeased, and 
saith to them : Suffer the little children to 
come unto me, and forbid them not, for of 
such is the Kingdom of God. Amen I 
say to you, whosoever shall not receive 
the Kingdom of God as a little child, 
shall not enter into it. And embracing 
them, and laying his hands upon them, 
he blessed them ; and ... he de- 
parted from thence. 



men living in convents and monasteries for the sake 
of the Kingdom of Heaven. % Christian chastity is 
joined to Christian poverty and Christian obedience, 
forming the threefold state of Gospel perfection. Our 
Saviour concludes by a distinct affirmation of liberty 
in the choice of this state, the only compulsion be- 
ing the interior drawing of the Holy Ghost : ' ' He 
that can take it, let him take it." 

It was singularly appropriate that Jesus, just after 
His weighty teachings on the great social question 



520 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



of marriage and celibacy, should have shown His 
love of little children. We have seen how once before 
He had held up childhood as the type of character 
formed by His doctrine and influence. He here re- 
peats the lesson: "Then were little children brought 
to Him, that He should impose hands upon them 
and pray. And the disciples rebuked them that 
brought them ; whom when Jesus saw, He was much 
displeased, and saith to them : Suffer the little chil- 
dren to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of 
such is the Kingdom of God. Amen I say to you, 
whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as 
a little child, shall not enter into it. And embracing 
them, and laying His hands upon them, He blessed 
them; and He departed from thence." 




BOOK III 



The Passion and Death of 
Jesus. 



521-52* 




FHE PASSION AND DEATH OP JESUS. 



CHAPTER I. 

"BEHOLD WE GO UP TO JERUSALEM." 

Matt. xx. 17-19 ; Mark x. 32-34. ; Luke xviii. 31—33* 

"And they were in the way going up to Jeru- 
salem; and Jesus went before them," says St. Mark, 
"and they were astonished, and following Him were 
afraid." It was the deep sorrow upon the face and 
form of Jesus that awed the Apostles. He led them 
slowly along, and they knew that every step brought 
Him nearer to the mystery which He had named 
The Cross. Were they also to suffer ? Did they now 
approach that final test of their love which He had 
described: "Yea, and even life it- 
self for My sake?" There He 

I walked before them, thoughtful and 

I sad, His head bent, His eyes vacant. 

! Their Master was upon the Way 

1 of the Cross. 

I As evening fell the moon Nisan, 

1 a bright silver sickle in the sky, 

I told the coming of the Passover. 

j When that moon should be full the 

I Messias knew that He would be 

523 



And they were in the way going up to 
Jerusalem ; and Jesus went before them, 
and they were astonished, and following 
him were afraid. And taking again the 
twelve, he began to tell them the things 
that should befall him, saying : Behold 
we go up to Jerusalem, and all things 
shall be accomplished which were written 
by the prophets concerning the Son of 
Man. For he shall be betrayed to the 
chief priests, and to the scribes, and 
ancients ; and they shall condemn him to 
death, and shall deliver him to the 
Gentiles; and they shall mock him, and 
spit on him, and scourge him, and kill 
him ; and the third day he shall rise again. 



524 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

dead and buried ; its mild beams were like a pall 
upon His soul. That new moon as it shone out over 
Israel brought joy to the people ; it brought woe to 
their Redeemer. 

Preparations for the Passover were now being 
made in every family. Happy those who could go 
to Jerusalem ; these were beginning in every part 
of Palestine to arrange for their caravans by groups 
of families, and already the Apostles could see the 
signs of departure in the wayside villages. Some of 
the wealthier Jews even passed them on the road, 
hurrying forward to secure lodging for that Passover 
whose celebration (though they knew it not) was to 
excel in majesty the very visit of the Angel in 
Egypt, yes, that of the creation of the human race 
itself, and to be the last solemn commemoration of 
Israel's deliverance from the Egyptian bondage. 

Jesus took His twelve Apostles apart and repeated 
the prophecy of His Passion. He named each particu- 
lar event in it, more in detail than He had done 
before. His soul was like a tablet from which He 
read to His followers the fiery words of the Hebrew 
prophets. Those sages of God, sublime Isaias, plain- 
tive Jeremias, musical David, now seemed to Jesus 
like the bailiffs of His Father's court, summoning 
Him to stand His trial as the proxy of the human 
race, to be condemned and executed. How solemn 
His tones, how glorious the calm courage of His 
voice and mien as, like a general before the battle, 
He addressed His little army, and led them onward to 
the victory of the Cross. " Behold we go up to Jeru- 
salem, and all things shall be accomplished which 
were written by the prophets concerning the Son of 
Man. For He shall be betrayed to the chief priests, 
and to the scribes, and ancients ; and they shall con- 



'BEHOLD WE GO UP TO JERUSALEM:* 525 

demn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the 
Gentiles ; and they shall mock Him, and spit on 
Him, and scourge Him, and kill Him ; and the third 
day He shall rise again." 

These words chilled the Apostles to the bone. 
Such language was, indeed, no longer a novelty in 
their Master's discourse with them, but they could 
not comprehend it : " And they understood none of 
these things, and this word was hid from them, and 
they understood not the things that were said." St. 
Luke's triple repetition of the Apostles' inability to 
understand their Master adds singular emphasis to 
the fact. For they must have thought, What bad 
dream is this ? that the most loving of masters should 
be betrayed, mocked, spit on, scourged, killed, by 
the leaders of the race of which He is the Saviour. 
We may imagine them saying to each other, Well, 
He is full of mysteries ; this is but one of His many 
deep prophetical utterances ; to Jerusalem we are 
going with a large band of Galileans ; many others 
will be there before us and will come after us ; men 
from everywhere in Israel will join us ; the peaceful 
power of the Master's voice will persuade everybody, 
or if not His peaceful voice, then His resistless might 
will conquer : - • the Kingdom of God is at hand ' ' ; 
He has often prophesied it, and that is no mystery 
but plain as day. 

Such must have been their mind. They dreamed 
of triumphs while He foresaw Calvary. 



526 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




CHAPTER II. 

THE AMBITION OP THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE. 

Matt. xx. 20-28 ; Mark x. 35-45. 

OING up to Jerusalem for the establishment of 
the Kingdom of God excited the ambition of the 
Apostles, which rose to the point of expression in 
the case of the sons of Zebedee, James and John. 
Too diffident — for naturally they were gentle souls 
— to face the Master on a subject more than doubt- 
ful, they enlisted their mother, Salome, in the cause ; 
or perhaps it was she who had incited their attempt. 
The end was that both Salome and her two sons, taking 
the Master apart, shared in a dialogue which is only 
fully understood by putting both the accounts, St. Mat- 
thew's and St. Mark's, into one connected whole. First 
she asked the favor ; but Jesus, instead of addressing 
His answer to her, spoke to them. The petition was 
introduced by Salome's innocently undertaking to hin- 
der refusal by asking a blind promise. She had often 
served the Master and His associ- 
ates, she was one of the most faith- 
ful of the women who were part of 
His usual company ; she had given 
her two boys to the Apostolate. 
What more natural than that she, 
in her simplicity, should ask great 
things and try to make sure before- 
hand of a favorable answer : ' ' Mas- 
ter, we desire that whatsoever we 
shall ask, Thou wilt do it for us. 
But He said to them : What would 
you that I should do for you ? She 
saith to Him : Say that these my 



Then came to him the mother of the 
sons of Zebedee, with her sons, James and 
John, adoring and asking something of 
him, saying : Master, we desire that what- 
soever we shall ask, thou wilt do it for us. 
But he said to them : What would you that 
I should do for you ? She saith to him : 
Say that these my two sons may sit, the 
one on thy right hand, and the other on 
thy left, in thy kingdom. Jesus answering 
said : You know not what you ask. Can 
you drink of the chalice that I drink of ? 
or be baptized with the baptism wherewith 
I am baptized ? But they said to him : 
We can. And Jesus saith to them : You 
shall indeed drink of the chalice that I 
drink of ; and with the baptism wherewith 
I am baptized, you shall be baptized. But 
to sit on my right hand or on my left is 
not mine to give to you, but for them 
for whom it is prepared by my Father. 



THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE. 527 

two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand, and 
the other on Thy left, in Thy Kingdom. Jesus an- 
swering said : You know not what you ask." 

Asking such a favor was a direct attack (though 
made very ignorantly), as, well upon the humility of 
the Apostolic life as upon the independence of our 
Saviour in ordering the grades and offices of His 
following. Again, it was an early instance of the 
attempts ever since made — and not always so un- 
successfully as this one — to interpose private in- 
fluence as the motive force in public religious affairs. 
All this Jesus rebuked, kindly indeed, for He knew 
His people well, but emphatically. He chided their 
ignorance, He insisted on the personal heroism of 
the Apostolic state, and He declared the giving of 
preferments to be His Father's prerogative. "Can 
you drink of the chalice that I drink of? or be 
baptized with the baptism wherewith I am baptized? 
But they said to Him : We can. And Jesus saith to 
them : You shall indeed drink of the chalice that I 
drink of ; and with the baptism wherewith I am 
J baptized, you shall be baptized. But to sit on My 
right hand or on My left is not Mine to give to 
you, but for them for whom it is prepared by My 
Father.' ' 

These words must have recalled to them His 
J solemn greeting of Peter's confession of faith in 
J Cesarea Philippi : ' ' Flesh and blood hath not re- 
! vealed it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven." 
That it was which gained Peter the office these 
; Apostles envied him. If one shall have full merit 
J of sharing the Lord's bitter cup of suffering, and 
j every honor of partaking in His baptism of blood, 
I yet shall he not be raised above his fellows for that 
I reason, but only because he has been set apart by 



528 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the lawful authority of God in His Church. All are II 
called to the undeserved honor of suffering with 
Jesus; only a few to the equally undeserved honor 
of sharing His external authority. 

God's will is, that in His Church obedience and I 
authority shall be two of the many forms of the 
supreme virtue of brotherly love. Among our Saviour's [ 
brethren it is not as it was among the heathen, 
where authority and obedience meant the training 
of men to kill their fellows, and the wrenching of * 
the people's mone3^ from them that their princes 
might rule over them as gods. No. In the Church 
of Christ the divine equality of all the brethren is 
not broken by difference in office, for all office 
comes from God and the form of government is strictly 
theocratic. The successor of St. Peter signs himself ) 
Servant of the servants of God. Yet there is nor 
obedience so prompt and loving as that which is 
paid to him and to the bishops and priests who with 
him exercise Apostolic authority. 

To enforce this the Master called the Apostles to- 
gether. He saw that the ten were displeased with 
James and John, and while He placated their anger 
with His kindly tones, He gave to all a salutary \ 
lesson in humility. He contrasted the heathen way) 
(and it is the way of the worldly-minded even among 
Christians) with His own way. 

Redemption was the purpose of Jesus, not' 1 
dominion. Authority helps redemption, and is divine, c 
but it is to be both exercised and obeyed for Christ's; 
sake and for men's salvation. Otherwise obedience 
degenerates into mere outward conformity, and author- 
ity is but the same kind of rule as the heathen 
suffer from their princes. In this lesson of One who 
is both the gentlest and most powerful of masters 



THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE. 



529 



And the ten hearing it, began to be 
much displeased at James and John. But 
Jesus calling them, saith to them : You 
know that they who seem to rule over the 
gentiles, lord it over them : and their 
princes have power over them. But it 
is not so among you : but whosoever will 
be greater, shall be your minister. And 
whosoever will be first among you, shall 
be the servant of all. For the Son of Man 
also is not come to be ministered unto, but 
to minister, and to give his life a re- 
demption for many. 



all the wisdom of governing and all the perfection 
of obedience is contained. Not force but charity 
rules in Christ's kingdom ; not constraint but affection 
inspires the obedience of its subjects. The main 
purpose of authority is so to enlighten the conscience 
of the people as to make the inner and the outer 
voice of God identical. The main purpose of obedi- 
ence is to demonstrate that men 
so love Christ the Lawgiver as to 
conform instinctively to the will of 
His representatives, knowing that 
by being obedient unto death the 
Lord of all wrought ' ' the redemp- 
tion of many." 

By this doctrine the external 
and internal action of God upon 
the soul (one exercised by Church officers and the 
other by the Holy Spirit's inspirations of love) be- 
come identical : law is effaced by love. The syn- 
thesis of law and love is thus expressed by St. 
Francis de Sales : 

"We cannot help conforming ourselves to what 

we love. In this sense, as I think, the great Apostle 

said that the law was not made for the just : 

(I. Tim. i. 9), for in truth the just man is not just 

but inasmuch as he has love, and if he have love, 

there is no need to press him by the rigor of the 

I law, love being the most pressing teacher and 

I solicitor, to urge the heart which it possesses to obey 

ithe will and the intention of the beloved. Love 

'is a magistrate who exercises his authority without 

noise, without pursuivants or sergeants, but by that 

mutual complacency by which, as we find pleasure 

J in God, so also we desire to please Him. Love is 

'the abridgment of all theology. . . . Thus, then, 

i 



53o 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



does heavenly love conform us to the will of God, 
and make us carefully observe His commandments, as 
being the absolute desire of His divine majesty whom 
we will to please. So that this complacency, with its 
sweet and amiable violence, foreruns that necessity of 
obeying which the law imposes upon us, converting 
this necessity into the virtue of love, and every 
difficulty into delight." {Treatise on the Love of God, 
Book VIII. chapters i. and v.) 







THE WAY TO JERUSALEM BY THE BETHANY ROAD. 



THE BLIND MAN A T THE GA TE OF JERICHO. 531 



CHAPTER III. 

THE BLIND MAN AT THE GATE OF JERICHO. 
Matt. xx. 29-34 ; Mark x. 46-52 ; Luke xviii. 35-43. 

Jericho, which had been the ancient capital of 
the tribe of Benjamin, was in our Saviour's day a 
proverb of beauty. It was embowered in roses, and it 
was the centre of a region of orchards, vineyards, and 
wheat fields. At present scarcely a trace is left of 
this famous city, once so splendid with nature's gene- 
rosity and man's industry. The region of gardens 
through which our Saviour passed towards Jerusalem, 
gathering hourly about Him as He went a greater 
multitude of pilgrims going to the Passover, is now 
a desolate waste, and the fair city itself has dwindled 
into a huddled group of miserable Arab cabins. 

He approached the city's eastern entrance, coming 
from the ford of the Jordan over which Josue had led 
the people of Israel dry shod. As the Master's 
company came near, two blind men, St. Matthew 
tells us, were stationed at the gate begging. 

St. Iyuke and St. Mark mention only one of them, 
the spokesman in the event which 
occurred. His name was Bar-Time- 
us, the son of Timeus. St. Luke 
says that the miracle took place as 
Jesus "drew nigh to Jericho," and 
the other two Evangelists say that 
it was when He went out of Jericho. 
Perhaps Jesus, tarrying in the city 
by day, had left it in the evening and 
spent the night outside of the east- 
ward walls in the camp of His little 
caravan ; in departing for Jerusalem 




Two blind men sitting by the ways:, 
begging." 



532 




LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

He would either make a circuit around 
the walls, or pass straight through the 
city. In either case the miracle might 
have been wrought when He approach- 
ed the westward gate as He was leav- 
ing the neighborhood of the city, jour- 
neying towards Jerusalem. Other solu- 
tions of this difficulty, a minor one at 
most, have been offered. 

When the son of Timeus heard the 
sound of voices and the noises of a 
great crowd, "he asked what this 
meant. And they told him that Jesus 
"Son of David, have mercy on me!" f Nazareth was passing by." His 
heart leaped into his mouth : Jesus of Xazareth ! The 
prophet who gave sight to the blind ! He had no 
more doubt that Jesus could give him eyesight than 
that he was at that moment straining his poor dead 
eyes into black darkness. Instantly his faith found 
voice, instantly the unspeakable dread of missing his 
only chance burst out into a clamorous prayer : "And 
he cried out, saying, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy 
on me ! " 

Jesus had not yet reached the beggars' station 
when this shout sharply cut the air. He was, 
probably, discoursing upon the Kingdom of God, 
perhaps about to answer some important question, 
when the din of the blind man's prayer, full of 
panic, repeated over and over again, deafened all 
ears. The annoyance was great, and to some so in- 
tolerable that " the} T that went before rebuked the 
blind man that he should hold his peace." This 
onry made the uproar the greater. The blind man 
was determined to be heard. There was something 
touching in this beggar's persistence ; it moved the 



I THE BLIND MAN A T THE GA TE OF JERICHO. 533 

| soul of Jesus with compassion. "But he cried out 

much more : Son of David, have mercy on me ! And 

j Jesus standing commanded him to be brought unto 

I Him. And they call the blind man, saying to him : 

| Be of better comfort; arise, He calleth thee." Then 

i came the blind beggars, the crowd opening right 

! and left, kindly hands offering to lead the unfortu- 

i nate men to Jesus. Bar-Timeus in his eagerness 

i went before, stumbling along towards the voice : 

"Casting off his garments, he leaped up and came 

to Jesus." 

It is well known that the loss of one of the 
senses sharpens the keenness of the others. The 
hearing of the blind is preternaturally developed. 
How sweet, then, must have sounded in the ears of 
the two blind men the tones of that voice, the 
most musical that ever spoke! "And Jesus said: 
What will ye that I do to you ? They say to Him : 
Lord, that our eyes be opened. And Jesus having 
compassion on them, touched their eyes, saying 
[to each of them] : Receive thy sight ; thy faith 
hath made thee whole. And immediately they 
saw, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all 
the people when they saw it gave praise to God." 
Few can realize what happened to the blind 
men. It was as if their souls had been enlarged 
to take in the universe : the blue sky of Pales- 
tine, its glorious sun marching across the zenith, 
the green trees and flowering hedges, the curi- 
ously gazing crowd, the gentle, smiling face of 

., ■ r .j 1t , . "Lord, that I may see." 

the Son of David — all absolutely new, not any- 
thing of it ever seen before. And now this heaven on 
earth of clear eyesight is possessed by them, and is to 
be possessed in easy enjoyment for ever. No wonder 
that Bar-Timeus and his companion glorified God. 




534 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. \ 

They are types of the many millions of converts r 
to the true religion of Christ, whose eyes in all ages 
are opened by the touch of the Son of David, after 1 
their hearts have faithfully given forth their earnest 
prayer for light. Converts follow Christ with thei 
eager zeal of deep thankfulness, often outdoing those 7 
who never have known how sad is the darkness of 
religious error. 



CHAPTER IV. 

ZACHEUS THE PUBLICAN. 
Luke xix. i-io. 

Another incident, not miraculous but highly in- 
structive nevertheless, marked the Master's passage 
through Jericho. It is His colloquy with Zacheus, 
the publican. 

This man was not only a member of that guild| 
of Satan, as the Jewish people considered it, the 
gatherers of the Roman tribute, but he was a chief 
among them. He had made a fortune at the business, 
and was loaded with its spoils as well as tainted 
with its infamy. Yet he was a worthy man, either 
because he had dealt honestly with both the govern- 
ment and the people, or — and this is more likely — 
because, having been dishonest, he had disgorged his 
thefts and had done it in true repentance. With 4 
God that settles all scores ; but not so with men, 
who are often loath to register the decrees of divine 
mercy. 

Zacheus having become a religious man, the pas- 
sage of the Messias through his town stirred him 
deeply. The miracle of Bar-Timeus and his com- 
panion aroused everybody's curiosity, and moved : 



ZACHEUS THE PUBLICAN. 



535 



Zacheus with a burning purpose at least to behold 
the great Man of God — he could hardly hope to do 
more. So far he had failed to see Jesus. The crowd 
was an essentially orthodox one, made up of pilgrims 
to the Holy City, and he could not safely make his 
way among them. Then, too, he was an under- 
sized man, and the burly Galileans walled Jesus in 
and Zacheus out with an impenetrable barrier. " And 
he sought to see Jesus, who He was, and he could 
not for the crowd, because he was 
low of stature. And running be- 
fore, he climbed up into a sycamore- 
tree, that he might see Him, for 
He was to pass that way." 

This was an act of humility. 
Boys, indeed, do such things with- 
out a thought ; but it was a child- 
like act of self-forgetfulness in a 
rich man. He had, indeed, forgot 
his sense of dignity, forgot every- 
thing but Jesus, and he received 
his reward. The Saviour saw him, 
a gray-bearded man, perched like 
a street urchin on the lower limb 
of a wide-spreading tree, and He 
stopped beneath him. " And He said to him : Zache- 
jus make haste and come down, for this day I must 
abide in thy house. And he made haste and came 
down, anal received Him with joy." 

Joy filled the soul of Zacheus. His house was 

inot far, perhaps at the very spot, and he quickly 

'led the Master to it. But "when all saw it, they 

murmured, saying that He was gone to be a guest 

with a man that was a sinner." These whispers 

grew into murmurs and then into open protests ; per- 



And entering in, he walked through 
Jericho. And behold there was a man 
named Zacheus : who was the chief of the 
publicans, and he was rich. And he sought 
to see Jesus who he was, and he could not 
for the crowd, because he v/as low of 
stature. And running before, he climbed 
up into a sycamore-tree that he might see 
him : for he was to pass that way. And 
when Jesus was come to the place, looking 
up, he saw him, and said to him : Zacheus, 
make haste and come down : for this day 
I must abide in thy house. And he made 
haste and came down, and received him 
with joy. And when all saw it, they mur- 
mured, saying that he was gone to be a 
guest with a man that was a sinner. But 
Zacheus standing said to the Lord, Behold, 
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the 
poor : and if I have wronged any man of 
anything, I restore him four-fold. Jesus 
said to him : This day is salvation come to 
this house : because he also is a son of 
Abraham. For the Son of Man is come to 
seek and to save that which was lost. 



536 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




u And he made haste and 
came down." 



haps one of the disciples voiced them directly in the 
Saviour's ear. But Jesus undertook the defence of: 
Zacheus, and it was a crushing defeat for the mur- 
niurers. To the Master the publican needed not to| 
defend himself had he but known it, for the com- 
mission of every crime against Heaven would not 
hinder Jesus from the company of the criminal. But 
Zacheus had the best possible justification any sinner 
can have — repentance, reparation, and amendment. 
Zacheus, therefore, halted the movement to his 
house; and "standing, said to the Lord: Behold, 
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and 
if I have wronged any man of anything, I restore 
him four- fold." This touched the sore spot with a 
healing balm. The hand that loosens its grip on 
another man's money is the hand of a hero. Most 
thieves hang on till hand and money and body and 
soul are cast into hell. The penance of the misei 
who makes sure of pardon by four-fold re- 
stitution is heroic, especially when it over- 
flows the measure by gifts to the poor. Such 
was the penance of Zacheus. 

For this reason the Lord loved him, and sin- 
gled him out for public favor. As they came 
to this chief publican's home, "Jesus said tc 
him : This day is salvation come to this house," 
and then turning to the multitude : ' ' because 
he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of 
Man is come to seek and to save that which was 
lost." The Lord might especially praise Zacheus 
because he had not waited to be sought, but, 
" running before," had, with that simplicity whict 
our Saviour so much prized, climbed a tree tc 
see and hear Him the better ; had already made 
amends for his rapacity by giving away half 



THE PARABLE OF THE TEN POUNDS. 537 

his fortune ; and had, upon the least scruple of 
unjust dealing, made sure of pardon by reparation 
four times over. All this is the admirable defence 
of Zacheus as he hindered the Master from entering 
his house and breaking his bread till he had shown 
that it was not spotted with the blood of his victims. 
An ancient tradition tells us that after our 
Saviour's death and resurrection and the coming of 
the Holy Ghost, Zacheus gave up all things for 
Christ's sake, became a distinguished disciple of St. 
Peter and was made Bishop of Cesarea. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE PARABLE OF THE TEN POUNDS. 
Luke xix. 11-28. 

But neither the incident of Zacheus nor the 
miracle of the blind men made at the time a deep 
impression on the followers of Jesus. Their minds 
were preoccupied with the Kingdom of God, which 
they thought would be manifested by the Messias 
at the coming Passover in Jerusalem. Their thoughts 
about that kingdom were widely unlike those of 
Jesus, as we know. The most striking difference 
was in point of time. " As they were hearing these 
things, He added and spoke a parable, because 
He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought 
that the Kingdom of God should immediately be 
manifested." Jesus knew that a terrible trial must 
intervene, a trial unto death for Himself, but for 
His disciples a literally crucial test of their fidelity ; 
and for the leaders of the Jewish nation a final and 
fatal loss of their place as citizens of God's Kingdom. 

As was His custom, He taught the right view by 



538 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

a parable — that of the Ten Pounds : Jesus is going 
to enter into His kingdom and to return ; that is, 
He will enter through the cruel gate of death into 
His Father's palace to be invested with His eternal 
kingship, and then come back in triumph at the 
Resurrection. As He departs, the Jews cry after 
Him, "Away with Him! Crucify Him!" In the 
hearts of His disciples, however, He has left His 
teaching, the prophecy of His Resurrection and of 
the founding of a spiritual kingdom, just as a rich 
man entrusts his capital to his agents for invest- 
ment. When Jesus rises from the dead, He expects 
to find among His followers an increase of love and 
of faith, the gold and the silver of His treasury. 

Some set about their Master's work with zeal. 
The Apostles and disciples were not required to do 
much in comparison with what He would do and 
suffer for them ; but they must at least stand the test 
of the Saviour's condemnation and death, and thus 
increase their faith and love — "faithful over few 
things." To these faithful servants the superabundant 
graces, the high dignities of office, should be dis- 
tributed. 

Others, who were not equal even to this, must 
suffer the penalty of spiritual sloth. These were 
cowards, time-servers, sluggards. It availed them 
little to say that they feared their Master too much to 
risk His money by trading : that is, spiritual sloth 
shall not be allowed the excuse so -commonly offered, 
"I fear I am not worthy, therefore I will lie quiet." 
Many a Christian thus veils his indolence. Their 
opportunity, their grace, their honor, all go to the 
faithful who have had to take their places and must be 
rewarded accordingly. Against the slothful and the 
cowardly Jesus turns their own words into a con- 



THE PARABLE OF THE TEN POUNDS. 



539 



elusive argument. It is a lesson to those whose in- 
dolence misuses such maxims as, "It is better not 
to try than to try and to fail"; especially those 
whose over-prudent advice dampens the energy of 
others ; above all to superiors who, for fear of failure, 
will neither act themselves nor let others act. 

In a subsequent repetition of this parable, Jesus says 
that the unprofitable servant was ' ' wicked and slothful, ' ' 
and was cast out into exterior darkness amid weeping 
and gnashing of teeth. In the pres- 
ent application of it He merely dis- 
misses him, stripped and disgraced. 

Then comes the terrible ending 
— the fate of the rebels against the 
new-crowned King : ' ' But as for 
those my enemies, who would not 
have me reign over them, bring them 
hither; and kill them before me." 

It is the divine sentence upon 
the Jews, executed by themselves 
and their chosen rulers, the Roman 
governors. They will refuse the 
kingship of Jesus ; they will impre- 
cate His blood upon themselves and 
their posterity ; they will publicly 
and officially prefer Caesar to rule 
over them instead of the Son of 
God. And Caesar will rule over 
them indeed ; he will scourge them 
into revolt, destroy their priesthood, 
massacre the bulk of the race, and 
scatter the remnant to the ends of 
the earth. 

"And having said these things, He 
went before, going up to Jerusalem." 



He said therefore : A certain nobleman 
went into a far country to receive for him- 
self a kingdom, and to return. And call- 
ing his ten servants, he gave them ten 
pounds, and said to them : Trade till I 
come. But his citizens hated him : and 
they sent an embassage after him, saying : 
We will not have this man to reign over 
us. And it came to pass that he returned, 
having received the kingdom : and he com- 
manded his servants to be called, to whom 
he had given the money, that he might 
know how much every man had gained 
by trading. And the first came, saying : 
Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. 
And he said to him :'Well done, thou good 
servant ; because thou hast been faithful 
in a little, thou shalt have power over ten 
cities. And the second came, saying : 
Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. 
And he said to him : Be thou also over five 
cities. And another came, saying : Lord, 
behold here is thy pound, which I have 
kept laid up in a napkin. For I feared 
thee, because thou art an austere man : 
thou takest up what thou didst not lay 
down, and thou reapest that which thou 
didst not sow. Hesaith to him : Out of thy 
own mouth I judge thee, thou wicked ser- 
vant. Thou knewest that I was an austere 
man, taking up what I laid not down, and 
reaping that which I did not sow : And 
why then didst thou not give my money 
into the bank, that at my coming I might 
have exacted it with usury ? And he said 
to them that stood by : Take the pound 
away from him, and give it to him that 
hath the ten pounds. And they said to 
him : Lord, he hath ten pounds. But I say 
to you, that to every one that hath shall be 
given, and he shall abound ; and from him 
that hath not, even that which he hath shall 
be taken from him. 



540 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER VI. 

"SIX DAYS BEFORE THE PASSOVER." 

John xi. 55, 56 ; xii. 1. 

KSUS could count six days before Him 
now ; then all would be over. It was the 
eighth day of the month Nisan and the Sab- 
0^NbY^ / bath when He reached Bethany. At sun- 



down of the thirteenth of the month the 
"v/X/ ' Passover festival would begin, and then His 
'&L life would be done and His body in the 

grave. Those six days stretched out before 
Him as the concluding week of a long campaign ap- 
pears to a general on the eve of battle ; the events 
which decide the fate of the army and the country 
crowd together more interest than all the many months 
or even years of marches and countermarches that have 
gone before. Jesus knew that He was soon to raise the 
Cross, the standard of His Kingdom, to rally about 
it the elect of all nations, and to abide the result 
of the conflict. 

There is no reason to suppose that He allowed Him- 
self to ignore His prophetic knowledge of His sufferings. 
We know that His .soul rose up in a great act of courage, 
equal to His love for men, as He contemplated what 
the Father had revealed to Him — the betrayal, the 
trial and condemnation, the scourging, the mockery, 
the Cross. 

While His soul beheld all this with the mingled 
terror of the man and joy of the hero, He led His 
disciples from Jericho over the difficult and danger- 
ous road to Bethany. Moving hearts awaited Him 
there ; hateful ones awaited Him in Jerusalem, where 
His enemies were set upon putting an end to His 



" SIX DA YS BEFORE THE PASSO VER." 541 

career, then and there. They watched for Him among 
the pilgrims coming in advance. cl The Pasch of 
the Jews was at hand ; and many from the country 
went up to Jerusalem before the Pasch to purify 
themselves. They sought therefore for Jesus." Spies 
stood at every gate and mingled with every caravan, 
and as they reported to their masters in the Temple, 
these were impatient. " They discoursed one with 
another, standing in the Temple : What think you, 
that He has not come to the festival-day ? ' ' They 
feared He would escape them. Their news was first 
that He was on His way from the neighborhood of 
Jericho. Many of those already arrived had seen 
Him, heard Him, told of His movements in the 
direction of the Holy City. Had He turned aside 
from the road ? Had He retreated with His followers 
into the Perea? Then they learned of His arrival 
at Bethany, very near the city, and of His halt 
there. They panted for His blood, and knew that 
they must now choose the best time to kill Him. They 
dreaded His Galileans, although the Roman garrison 
was strengthened at that time with special purpose to 
suppress any turbulence of the assembled Jews. 

Hence the conspirators impatiently waited for Him. 
Meantime they had their partisans fully instructed : 
' ' And the chief priests and the Pharisees had given 
a commandment, that if any man knew where He 
was, he should tell, that they might apprehend Him." 
This was the situation at Jerusalem, as "Jesus six 
days before the Pasch came to Bethania, where 
I^azarus had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life." 



542 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




CHAPTER VII. 

MARY MAGDALENE ANOINTS JESUS. 

Matt. xxvi. 6-1 j ; Mark xiv. 3-9; John xii. 2-1 1. 

HE last Sabbath that the Master was to spend 
with His disciples had drawn to a close amid His 
loving friends of Bethany. Chief among them were 
Mary and Martha and Lazarus ; but another is now 
named, Simon, called the leper. He, perhaps, had 
been healed by Jesus ; at any rate he would now pay 
Him honor by giving Him a banquet. Some have 
conjectured that Simon was the father of the three 
pious friends of Jesus, or at least a very near 
relative, perhaps their guardian. He was certainly 
most intimate with them, for Martha served at table 
during the feast. Lazarus was one of the guests, 
and Mary was the chief figure in a strange cere- 
mony which has made this banquet very memorable. 
This was the public anointing of Jesus, in antici- 
pation of His death and burial. She had done this 
once before as a thank-offering for her conversion ; 
now she is to show her love by repeating the touch- 
ing function as a sign of her belief and acceptance 
of the Master's prophecy of His death. It is to peni- 
tential love that Jesus granted this privilege. " Mary 
therefore, having an alabaster box, took a pound of 
ointment of right spikenard of great price, and anointed 
the feet of Jesus as He was at table, and wiped 
His feet with her hair." Beautiful and typical cere- 
mony ! Those ringlets and tresses which had served 
lustful vanity are now consecrated into a crown of 
chastity by the ointment wiped from the patient feet 
of Jesus. 

The peoples of the Orient use perfumes much more 



MARY MAGDALENE ANOINTS JESUS. 543 

than Europeans, and it is a mark of honor to a 
guest to anoint his feet with fragrant essences after 
they have been washed at the end of a journey. On 
this occasion the very vase in which the perfume was 
sealed was of precious material, as was frequently the 
case with very costly ointments and spices ; Mary 
broke it as she began her loving ministry. 

Mary did not scruple the high price of her oint- 
ment, since it honored the Son of God, and served her 
own most holy aspirations. Not so Judas Iscariot, of 
all beings alive the most unlike the generous Mary 
of Bethany. He was purse-bearer for Jesus and the 
Apostles, and he coveted the box of ointment. Why, 
thought he, was it not handed over to him as a gift 
to the common fund? "Then Judas Iscariot, he that 
was about to betray Him, said : Why was not this 
ointment sold for three hundred pence and given to 
the poor ? ' ' 

There never was a day when the worldly-minded 
did not assume to teach the pious how to be thrifty 
and prudent. If devout souls build noble churches 
and altars to God, they are lectured for not spending 
all on the poor. If they spend all on the poor, they 
are lectured for favoring idleness and pauperism. The 
world, which knows nothing of heavenly wisdom, will 
teach Heaven's children how to be wise according to 
God. It is in this connection that we are again 
brought to the study of the saddest, the most perplex- 
ing of all the problems in the Gospel — Judas Iscariot. 
His treason to Jesus is prefaced by his admonition to 
Mary for lacking human prudence — a painful case of 
the incompatibility between the utilitarian and the re- 
ligious spirit. St. John reveals his motives: (< Now 
he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but be- 
cause he was a thief." 



544 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



Yet he spoke the sentiments of 
the disciples, as many another clever 
rogue has pushed himself forward 
and become the spokesman of honest 
but unthinking companions. Theft 
was his object and thrift his plea, 
and thrift was thus made the pre- 
text to mislead good souls to their 
own harm. They gave him a chorus 
of approval : ' ' And the disciples 
seeing it, had indignation, saying: 
To what purpose is this waste ? ' ' 
It was utilitarianism scandalized at 
love's prodigality. Mary's act, so 
solemn, so touching, so graceful, 
so fitting an acknowledgment of the 
royal dignity of the Master, must 
be taken into shop and weighed 
against three hundred pieces of 
money — and found wanting. To 
Mary, love was a prophet ; the 
words of Jesus reported to her by 
the Apostles, foretelling the end at 
Jerusalem, were not all mystery. 
Her beloved Master was to die ; she hastened to 
anoint Him. And Jesus instantly took up her de- 
fence ; His plea for her was the nearness of His 
death : " Let her alone : against the day of My bury- 
ing hath she kept this." 

She had bought the spikenard for the purpose of 
anointing Him at His death in Jerusalem, whither she 
intended to follow Him. Another version of the text 
is : * ( Suffer her to keep it against the day of My 
burying ' ' ; and this supposes that she had other vases 
of it which she had not broken, but which she had 



And when he was in Bethania, in the 
house of Simon the leper, . . . they 
made him a supper there, and Martha 
served ; but Lazarus was one of them that 
were at table with him. Mary therefore, 
having an alabaster box, took a pound of 
ointment of right spikenard of great price, 
and anointed the feet of Jesus as he was at 
table, and wiped his feet with her hair, and 
breaking the alabaster box, she poured it 
out upon his head, and the house was filled 
with the odor of the ointment. Then one 
of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, he that was 
about to betray him, said : Why was not 
this ointment sold for three hundred pence, 
and given to the poor? Now he said 
this, not because he cared for the poor, but 
because he was a thief, and having the 
purse, carried the things that were put 
therein. And the disciples seeing it, had 
indignation, saying : To what purpose is 
this waste ? For this might have been sold 
for much and given to the poor. And 
they murmured against her. Jesus there- 
fore said : Let her alone, that she may keep 
it against the day of my burial. Why do 
you molest her ? She hath wrought a good 
work upon me. For the poor you have al- 
ways with you, and whensoever you will 
you may do them good ; but me you have 
not always. What she had, she hath done : 
she is come beforehand to anoint my body 
for the burial ; for she, in pouring this oint- 
ment upon my body, hath done it for my 
burial. Amen I say to you, wheresoever 
this Gospel shall be preached in the whole 
world, that also which she hath done shall 
be told for a memory of her. 



MARY MAGDALENE ANOINTS JESUS. 



545 



brought to show Him. These the disciples coveted, 
but Jesus still insisted upon her liberty of action and 
upon the merit of her work : ' ' Why do you molest 
her? She hath wrought a good work upon Me." 
Then He took up their argument about the poor. No 
doubt to assist the poor is a high order of charity. 
But to honor Jesus, or His Church or His saints, is to 
advance every form of charity. What is done to honor 
charity's Leader increases the number of charity's 
votaries and enlarges their generosity. The poor Jew 
who accepted Jesus as his Messias had rather go 
hungry and naked than to see his Master buried with- 
out the honors due to a Jewish Rabbi. And so it 
has been ever since ; it is the Catholic Church of 
Christ which both loves and cares for His poor best 
of all societies, and is best loved by them in return ; 
and she is at the same time the most lavish 
in honoring His public worship with costly 
and magnificent temples, altars, and vest- 
ments. No class enjoys the sight of these 
royal insignia of the King so much as the 
poor. None would be so deeply injured as 
the poor if, under pretence of giving 
them bread, the public honor of their 
loving Saviour were hurt by cheap 
and sordid surroundings at His wor- 
ship. They live upon the glory of 
the Carpenter's Son as well as upon 
bread. 

The moment chosen by Mary to 
spend upon Jesus the price of a 
precious ointment was opportune, 
and He maintained this against the 
murmurers. The time to help the 
poor is every day ; but Jesus was on 




ALABASTER BOX USED BY EASTERN 
WOMEN FOR JEWELRY AND PRE- 
CIOUS CINTMENT- 



546 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




SPIKENARD. 



the eve of His departure, and whoever would honor 
Him must do it at once : " For the poor you have al- 
ways with you, and whensoever you will you do them 
good; but Me you have not always." How plaintive 
the tones of His voice as He again prophesied His ap- 
proaching death ! How sad that He must argue and 
plead and insist upon the joint right which entitled 
Him to receive and Mary to give by forestallment 
those traditional anointings, which He knew and she 
foreboded would not be possible between the cross and 
the sepulchre. "She is come beforehand," He con- 
tinued, "to anoint My body for the burial; for she 
in pouring this ointment upon My body, hath done 
it for My burial. Amen I say to you, wheresoever 
this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that 
also which she hath done shall be told for a memory 
of her." The Apostles themselves shall relate it, and 
they that now condemn shall praise it, and the lesson 
it teaches shall give heart to many devout souls 
whose joy is to help religion with one hand and not 
to withhold the other from helping the poor. 

So ended the feast at Simon's house. Meantime 
many Jews, a great multitude, says St. John, had 
come out from Jerusalem to Bethany, " not for Jesus' 
sake only, but that they might see Lazarus, whom He 
had raised from the dead." Many believed in the 
miracle, and their faith was confirmed by the testi- 
mony of the dead man and of his sisters. Others 
hated Jesus too bitterly to be capable of judging 
fairly ; these came to apprehend Him, being of the 
party of the high-priests or in their pa}^ They were 
hindered in their purpose by the presence of a great 
number of Galileans, nearly all of them enthusi- 
astic adherents of the Galilean Prophet. Meantime 
Lazarus was in danger ; for, says St. John, " the chief 



THE PROCESSION OF PALMS. 547 

priests thought to kill Lazarus also, because many of 
the Jews, by reason of him, went away and believed 
in Jesus." The priests' conspiracy treated the miracles 
of Jesus as tricks and magic and diabolism, and 
therefore Lazarus was doomed to the fate of an accom- 
plice of the impostor. 




CHAPTER VIII. 

THE PROCESSION OF PALMS. 

Matt. xxi. 1-10; Mark xi. 1-11 ; Ltike xix. 29-40; 
John xii. 12-19. 

Meantime Jesus grew in favor with 
the common people. It seemed for a 
few days as if their good hearts would 
overcome the malice of the conspira- 
tors. The steadily increasing multi- 
tude, made up of pilgrims from every 
r,f^ part of the northern and eastern sec- 
tions of Israel, combined with those who had come 
out from the city at the great news of the raising 
'of Lazarus to form a concourse of men and women 
portentous in size and almost unanimously favorable 
to Jesus. The distance between Bethany and the city 
gate was less than two miles. Back and forth moved 
the crowds, full of curiosity and hope, and desire to 
testify their loyalty to the Messias. Nor was there 
I any sign of sedition among them. The repeated and 
: steadfast declaration of the Master, that He had no 
'purpose to found a secular kingdom and that His 
! mission was wholly religious, seems at last to have 
(made religion the dominant thought in men's minds. 
Yet He was a king ; He never refused, He always 
accepted the royal title of Son of David, Whatever 



548 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

else it meant to the people, it was now plain that it 
did not mean war. Hence the stern eye of the Roman 
power gazed calmly upon the commotion between Jeru- 
salem and Bethany, and this agitation aroused no un- 
easiness in the fortress of Antonia, now filled with a 
heavy force of legionaries. 

The word was passed on the first day of the week 
that Jesus was coming to the city. His enemies, 
instead of taking measures to apprehend Him, were 
fain to bite their lips and wait. For the people were 
too deeply stirred in favor of Jesus to allow of His 
being apprehended: "A great multitude that had 
come to the festival day, when they heard that Jesus 
was near to Jerusalem, took branches of palm-trees, 
and went forth to meet Him, crying : Hosanna, blessed 
is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King 
of Israel." 

The palm-branch is an emblem of victory. Moses 
had exhorted the people to express their feelings at 
the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles by waving 
palm-branches. By instinct, therefore, had the faith- 
ful Israelites procured these sacred signs of holy joy, 
to wave above their heads as they came forth to meet 
Jesus, while they sang the prophetic songs of their 
ancient Scriptures. Hosanna, they cried, to the King 
of Israel ! All hail to the Son of David ! 

Jesus did not hesitate to accept these acclamations 
of His people. He felt and knew that He was King, 
not of armies indeed but of souls, not for warlike con- 
quests but for the all-loving conquests of a merciful 
God. To add to the solemnity He sent His disciples 
to procure for His use the traditional royal ass : " And 
when they drew nigh to Jerusalem and were come unto 
the mount called Olivet, then Jesus sent two of His 
disciples, saying to them : Go ye into the village that 



THE PROCESSION OF PALMS. 



549 




is over against you, and immediately you shall find 
an ass tied, and a colt with her, on which no man 
ever hath sitten ; loose them and bring them to Me. 
And if any man shall say anything to you, say ye 
that the Lord hath need of them, and forthwith he 
will let them go. And the disciples going, found the 
colt standing as He had said unto them, tied before the 
gate without, in the meeting of two ways, and they 
loose him. And as they were loosing the colt, the 
owners thereof said to them : Why loose you the colt ? 
Who said to them as Jesus had commanded them : Be- 
cause the Lord hath need of him ; and they let him 
go with them." 

Without doubt the owners were friends and adher- 
ents of Jesus. They felt honored that their humble 
beast should be the triumphal throne of the Messias. 
1 'And the disciples brought the colt to Jesus and 
they lay their garments upon him, and He sat upon 
him. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled 
which was spoken by the prophet, saying : Tell ye 
the daughter of Sion : Behold thy King cometh to 
thee, meek and sitting on an ass, and a colt, the foal 
of her that is used to the yoke." 

The kings of this world are mounted on war-steeds 



55o 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



caparisoned with cloth of gold ; Jesus, King of Israel 
and of all mankind, poor in His omnipotence, humble 
in His eternal majesty, rides in triumph upon the 
foal of an ass, caparisoned with the rough garments 
of peasants and fishermen. The mother ass was taken 
in the procession (how singular the simplicity of 
this most popular of all royal triumphs ! ) to help con- 
trol the foal, now used by man for the first time. 

The people were stirred by the deepest emotions of 
joy and expectation. The miracle of raising Lazarus 
from the dead — the climax of so many others — finally 
overflowed their religious souls. They interrogated 
again and again the witnesses of this greatest of the 
wonders of their Prophet, and these witnesses were 
numerous and communicative : ' ' The multitude there- 
fore gave testimony, which was with Him when He 
called Lazarus out of the grave, and raised him from 
the dead. For which reason also the people came to 
meet Him, because they heard that 
He had done this miracle." 

How different this popular en- 
thusiasm from the wild spirit of re- 
volt ! Instead of seizing the weap- 
ons of war the people cut branches 
from the trees, their hearts full of 
loving allegiance to Israel's Messias, 
not fired with hatred of the foreign 
tyrant. The shouts of battle were 
unheard ; instead of them the praises 
of God were chanted in the holy 
canticles of the prophets. "The 
whole multitude of His disciples, 
they that went before and they 
that followed, began with joy to 
praise God with a loud voice, for all 



And the next day a great multitude that 
was come to the festival-day, when they 
had heard that Jesus was coming to Jeru- 
salem, took branches of palm-trees, and 
went forth to meet him and cried : Hosanna, 
blessed is he that cometh in the name 
of the Lord, the King of Israel. And [the 
disciples] brought the [ass's] colt to Jesus 
and they lay their garments upon him, and 
he sat upon him ; as it is written : Fear not, 
daughter of Sion ; behold thy King cometh 
sitting upon an ass's colt. And a very great 
multitude spread their garments in the 
way, and others cut boughs from the trees 
and strewed them in the way. And when 
he was now coming near the descent of 
Mount Olivet, the whole multitude of his 
disciples, they that went before and they 
that followed, began with joy to praise 
God with a loud voice for all the mighty 
works they had seen, saying : Blessed be 
the King who cometh in the name of the 
Lord, peace in heaven and glory on high ! 
Hosanna to the Son of David ! Blessed 
be the kingdom of our father David that 
cometh, Hosanna in the highest ! 



THE PROCESSION OF PALMS. 



55* 



the mighty works they had seen, saying : Blessed be 
the King who cometh in the name of the L,ord ; peace 
in Heaven, and glory on high ! Hosanna to the Son 
of David ! Blessed be the kingdom of our father 
David that cometh, Hosanna in the highest." 

Well might the Roman garrison stand idly by as 
this array of Jews armed with palm-branches ap- 
proached the city. The Romans were stern masters 
and cruel enemies, but their cruelty was not wanton, 
like that of the elder Herod, nor was panic alarm 
likely to rush them to sudden slaughter, even though 
this subject race saluted their Prophet as King and 
as heir to the throne of David. The disciples, who led 
this strange triumphal march, were in an ecstasy of 
religious excitement, though little understanding the 
glory of the Master, which they so deeply enjoyed. 
St. John relates his own feelings and that of his fellow- 
Apostles in after days : 
1 ' These things the dis- 
ciples did not know at the 
first ; but when Jesus was 
glorified, then they remem- 
bered that these things 
were written of Him, and 
that they had done these 
things to Him." 

But what were the feel- 
ings of the Pharisees and 
the members of the San- 
hedrin during this Proces- 
sion of Palms down the 
slope of Mount Olivet to- 
wards the city? They were 
a prey to mingled chagrin 
and hatred. Meantime " Say that the Lord hath need of them. 




552 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




" Behold thy King cometh sitting on an 
ass's colt." 



some men, whether spies of the chief 
priests or half-hearted adherents of 
the Saviour we know not — the over- 
prudent Nicodemus perhaps among 
them — appealed to Jesus to give over 
this singular triumph: 'Master, re- 
buke Thy disciples. To whom He 
said : I say to you that if these shall 
hold their peace, the stones will cry 
out." As formerly He had exercised 
prudence in refusing a triumph, so 
now He was bold and fearless in ac- 
cepting it. Prudence is not coward- 
ice, nor is courage rashness ; all 
wisdom of action lies in the choice 
of its occasion, and Jesus would now 
enjoy the people's homage. 
Such was the Procession of the Palms. It was the 
final triumph of the Peaceful Prince, the end of His 
royal progress through His kingdom. Josue's great- 
est victory had been in the march of the unarmed 
Levites around the walls of Jericho, sounding trumpets. 
Jesus conquers men and nations by palm-branches, 
by songs of holy joy, by kindly words of affection 
and of pardon. But Jerusalem was hard to win, 
whether with the joyful love which the palm-branch 
symbolizes in the Orient, or the threat of doom 
which Jesus was soon to launch against her. 

How strange a hardness of heart to resist the sweetest 
doctrine ever preached by a prophet ! How deep the guilt 
of resisting the loving kindness of God's messenger, 
bringing with Him as a witness of His mission a living 
man whom He had raised from the dead. This obdu- 
racy finally extorted from the Master the tearful ana- 
thema which ended the singular Procession of Palms. 



CHRIST WEEPS OVER JERUSALEM. 553 

CHAPTER IX. 

CHRIST WEEPS OVER JERUSALEM. 

Matt. xxi. 10 , 77, and 14-16 ; Mark xi. 11 ; 
Luke xix. 41-4.4.; John xii. 19. 

The nearer Jesus came to the city the deeper sank 
His heart in sorrow. His feeling of triumph gradual- 
ly died within Him ; and at last He melted into tears. 
The air of gentle authority with which He received 
the plaudits of His loving disciples gave place to one 
of unspeakable gloom. Disappointment, despondency, 
the sense of failure, of love rejected and despised, the 
sting of ingratitude, crowded all joy out of His heart. 
The people were His, but He had failed with the 
priesthood and the Sanhedrin. Whatever man had a 
voice in Israel by divine appointment raised it against 
Jesus. Official Judaism, the successor of Moses and 
of Aaron, was false to God His Father, corrupt, venal, 
worldly, apostate in heart if orthodox in external ob- 
servance. 

All this came upon Jesus as with the multitude of 
His followers He approached the capital of His Father's 
theocracy. He saw the splendid Temple like a vision 
of the gates of heaven rising up before Him, but as 
He looked into the future He saw this wonderful edi- 
fice in ruins. He recalled the past, and each of His 
visits to the holy place ; every sermon of His and of 
the Baptist came before His mind as a record by 
which Jerusalem should be arraigned, judged, con- 
demned, and destroyed, instead of having been in- 
structed unto life eternal. This sense of failure was 
keen and bitter, for He stood for the Father who had 
been rejected ; but the woe of helpless sympathy, the 
prophetic knowledge of the eternal ruin of souls, was 



554 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



And when he drew near, seeing the city, 
he wept over it, saying : If thou also hadst 
known, and that in this thy day, the things 
that are to thy peace ! But now they are 
hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall 
come upon thee, and thy enemies shall 
cast a trench about thee, and compass thee 
around, and straiten thee on every side, 
and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy 
children who are in thee ; and they shall 
not leave in thee a stone upon a stone, be- 
muse thou hast not known the time of thy 
visitation. 




M Shall not leave a stone upon 
a stone." 



more bitter yet and overwhelmed His courage and 
swept it away in a paroxysm of tears. 

Jesus loved His native land, He loved the Jewish 
race, whose purest blood flowed in 
His veins, whose physical traits of 
form and countenance were in Him 
advanced to their utmost perfection. 
He had come to save the race of 
Israel, had preached and worked 
miracles to win their souls, had been 
faithful to the liturgical laws and 
the holy places and the holy times 
appointed by His Father for their sanctification. All 
was now over. The predestinated hours had come 
and gone. He knew and mourned it with the sorrow 
of a mother over her first-born. 

He stopped as the city came into full view, alighted, 
perhaps, and sat on the palm-branches spread for His 
convenience, and then wept bitterly. 

Forty years later, Jerusalem went down under the 
blows of the Roman hammer, and was completely 
destroyed. Since then it has for most of the time 
been held by the unclean imposture of the false prophet 
Mahomet ; it has been used by the Turks mainly as 
their profitable show place for devout Christians to 
venerate the footsteps and tomb of the Sa- 
viour. As for the Kingdom of Israel and the 
priesthood and the Temple, they have total- 
ly vanished away ; no fable or dream has less 
reality in our day, or any day since the re- 
jection of Jesus by the official heads of the 
chosen people, than the glorious church and 
nation of ancient Israel. 

When Jesus had ended His lament over 
Jerusalem, He arose, mounted the ass's colt, 



CHRIST WEEPS OVER JERUSALEM. 555 

and continued His progress into the city ; and as the 
ever-increasing throng of pilgrims entered, they met His 
triumphal procession on its way to the Temple. They, 
as well as all in the city who had not yet heard of the 
events of the day, were moved with wonder. "Who 
is this? " they asked. " And the people said : This is 
Jesus the Prophet, from Nazareth of Galilee." Upon 
that name hung the hopes of many unfortunates. 
' ' And there came to Him the blind and the lame in 
the Temple, and He healed them." 

Again the conspirators sought to suppress the 
emotions of the people by an appeal to Jesus Him- 
self : ' ' The chief priests and scribes seeing the 
wonderful things that He did, and the children cry- 
ing in the Temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son 
of David, were moved with indignation, and said to 
Him : Hearest Thou what these say ? And Jesus said 
to them: Yea, have you never read, Out of the mouths 
of infants and suckli?igs Thou hast perfected praise ? ' ' 
Upon which the Pharisees were cast down ; they felt 
bitterly their humiliating defeat. They "said among 
themselves : Do you not see that we prevail nothing ? 
Behold the whole world is gone after Him." 

Night was falling when Jesus and the twelve left 
the precincts of the Temple, and under cover of the 
darkness made their way back to Bethany. More 
than once during these exciting days the seclusion 
of Bethany gave Jesus an interval of rest. Its quiet 
was a welcome contrast with the city and its 
throngs of people, stirred to their innermost depths 
by the occurrences of this last period of the public 
activity of Jesus, as well as by the never-resting 
machinations of the conspirators. 



556 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER X. 

JESUS AND THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 
Matt. xxi. ij-22 ; Mark xi. 11-14, and 20-26. 

11 And in the morning, returning into the city, He 
was hungry." Not with bodily hunger, for it was just 
after His departure from the hospitable roof of Mary 
and Martha at Bethany. He hungered for souls, and 
would show the Apostles a sign of how tasteless to 
Him were souls unfruitful of faith and love: "And 
when He had seen afar off a fig-trte having leaves, 
He came, if perhaps He might find something on it. 
And when He was come to it, He found nothing but 
leaves ; for it was not the time for figs. And answer- 
ing, He said to it : May no man hereafter eat fruit of 
thee any more for ever. And His disciples heard it. 
And immediately the fig-tree withered away." 

That is, it began to wither away on their de- 
parture. For when they passed by the next morning, 
11 they saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots. And 
the disciples seeing it wondered ; and Peter remem- 
bering, said to Him : Rabbi, behold the fig-tree which 
Thou didst curse is withered away." The lesson of 
His divine power was plainly taught, and also that of 
the worthlessness of a life of observances without 
fruit of inner and outer fidelity to the divine rule of 
love, joined to the living root of all justice, which 
is true faith. Our Saviour enforced this by recur- 
ring to His oft-repeated teaching on the efficacy of 
prayer. 

This incident of the barren fig-tree, and the brief 
discourse which it was made to illustrate, were for 
the Apostles alone, and we have joined the parts 
of the narrative as given by Matthew and Mark, 



JESUS AND THE BARREN FIG-TREE. 



557 



separated by a day's events in the city. It is all 
very curious : the looking for figs to eat when the 
time of their ripening had not come ; the finding a 
tree all covered with leaves, yet with no figs, ripe or 
unripe, upon it ; the cursing of it for a barren and use- 
less mockery of a fruit-tree, typi- 
cal of a religion of words and signs 
and empty show ; and then the use 
of the miracle of the tree's quick 
death to show the efficacy of prayer, 
ending with His never- forgotten task 
of urging brotherly love and for- 
giveness of injuries — all this in the 
two early mornings on the way from 
Bethany to the Temple. 

It was not so easy for the Apos- 
tles to credit their own super- 
natural gifts at this time as it had been in the 
earlier and prouder days of their company with 
Jesus. But He insisted on the Apostolic virtue of 
faith as the force which should make them masters 
over every power of earth and hell. The event will 
justify His prediction. The preaching of the Apostles 
will wither the tree of Judaism root and branch ; it 
will lift the mountain of paganism from off the heart 
of humanity. Their word shall be mightier than the 
sword of the Roman Empire, and shall overcome the 
yet stronger force of human passion. The laith of 
Christ shall wither the tree of vice and make that 
of truth fruitful in every land under the sun. 



And Jesus answering saith to them : 
Have the faith of God. Amen I say to 
you, if you have faith and stagger not, not 
only this of the fig-tree shall you do, but 
whosoever shall say to this mountain : Be 
thou removed and be cast into the sea, and 
shall not stagger in his heart, but believe 
that whatsoever he saith shall be done, it 
shall be done for him. Therefore I say 
unto you, all things whatsoever you ask 
when ye pray, believe that you shall re- 
ceive, and they shall come unto you. And 
when you shall stand to pray, forgive, if 
you have aught against any man, that your 
Father also who is in Heaven may forgive 
you your sins. But if you will not forgive, 
neither will your Father that is in Heaven 
forgive you your sins. 



558 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XI. 

"unless the grain of wheat falling into the 
ground shall die." — the voice from heaven : 
"that you may be the children of light." 

John xii. 20-36. 

St. John narrates a touching instance of humility 
on the part of some Gentiles, most probably proselytes, 
and therefore entitled to enter that outer court of 
the Temple called by their name. These had come 
up "to adore on the festival-day, ' ' and were anxious 
to speak face to face with the great Prophet. They 
knew His doctrine of universal atonement, and would 
thank Him, we may suppose, for having so large a 
heart for them. But, very unlike the enemies of Jesus, 
who crowded up to shout their questions at Him, 
these devout men timidly sought the help of the dis- 
ciples, and spoke to Philip, whose former dwelling- 
place was Bethsaida, near which the Gentile traders 
passed and repassed the whole year long ; perhaps 
they had known Philip there. 

It may be that the incident occurred on the way 
from Bethany that morning : They said to Philip : 
"Sir, we would see Jesus." But in these latter 
days the Master's power had taken on a more majestic 
mien: "Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. Again 
Andrew and Philip told Jesus." His answer was a 
discourse upon the glory of His death. It was doubt- 
less an anticipation of the questions these Gentiles 
would put to Him. Seldom have even the words of 
Jesus expressed so terrible a doctrine or risen to so 
high an eloquence, as when He here proclaimed the 
mystery of life springing from its own death. He 
used, as was His wont, an illustration from nature, 



THE VOICE FROM HEA VEN. 



559 



whose mystery of life is also wrapped in the decay 
of death. 

And as if this absorbing topic had led Jesus into 
forgetfulness of the surrounding group and the multi- 
tude awaiting Him about the Temple, He began to 
think aloud: "Now is My soul troubled. And what 
shall I say ? Father, save Me from this hour ? ' ' The 
contemplation of His death aroused 
violent emotions in the soul of Jesus. 
His human nature snatched a mo- 
mentary sway, and He cried out to 
Heaven for pity. We shall see the 
same thing happen again the night 
before Calvary. This is the first 
sigh of His agony. But the Sav- 
iour's high purpose of suffering for 
us soon regains the mastery. He 
recalls His choice long since made, 
and the covenant with His Father : 
' ' But for this cause I came unto 
this hour. Father, glorify Thy 
name." 

These last words pierced the 
skies. We have said that the Mas- 
ter was thinking aloud ; and now the 
Father's secret communication with His Holy One 
suddenly becomes public : ' ' A voice therefore came 
ifrom Heaven," whose echoes reverberated through the 
colonnades of the Temple, so that the crowd to its 
! outer edge were startled as if with thunder ; but 
I those near at hand heard its tones of more than 
angelic music. "I have both glorified it," said the 
voice, "and will glorify it again. The multitude 
therefore that stood and heard, said that it thundered. 
Others said: An angel spoke to Him." 



But Jesus answered them, saying : The 
hour is come, that the Son of Man shall be 
glorified. Amen, Amen I say to you, un- 
less the grain of wheat, falling into the 
ground, die, itself remaineth alone. But if 
it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He 
that loveth his life shall lose it ; and he 
that hateth his life in this world, keepeth 
it unto life eternal. If any man minister to 
me, let him follow me ; and where I am, 
there also shall my minister be. If any 
man minister to me, him will my Father 
honor. Now is my soul troubled. And what 
shall I say ? Father, save me from this 
hour ? But for this cause I came unto this 
hour. Father, glorify thy name. A voice 
therefore came from heaven : I have both 
glorified it, and will glorify it again. The 
multitude therefore that stood and heard, 
said that it thundered. Others said : An 
angel spoke to him. Jesus answered : 
This voice came not because of me, but for 
your sakes. Now is the judgment of the 
world ; now shall the prince of this world 
be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up 
from the earth, will draw all things to 
myself. (Now this he said, signifying what 
death he should die.) 



5<3o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Jesus explained that it presaged His death ; not 
indeed to Himself personally, upon whom the dark 
shadow always rested, but to them ; that they, know- 
ing He conversed with God, might not lose faith in 
Him when He should be raised upon the gibbet, the 
scorn of His enemies. Were it upon a gibbet or a 
throne, they could but lift Him up for the worship 
of all mankind. "Jesus answered: This voice came 
not because of Me, but for your sakes. Now is the 
judgment of the world; now shall the prince of 
this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from 
the earth, will draw all things to Myself. (Now this 
He said, signifying what death He should die)." 
The honest Greeks who had elicited all this now knew 
that all races, all men, "all things" were to be 
gathered to the Christ and to God, when He should 
be "lifted up." 

He knew that His disciples were familiar with this 
mystery of the Son of Man's death, however dimly they 
understood it, and would question Him no more about 
it ; but He was not surprised that others should wish 
an explanation. "The multitude answered Him," 
says St. John, "we have heard out of the law that 
Christ abideth for ever, and how sayest Thou, the 
Son of Man must be lifted up ? Who is this Son of \ 
Man." Strangers alone could be thus unfamiliar with \ 
His often- repeated title, Son of Man. What should i 
He say to them ? Neither time nor occasion served 
Him to instruct them fully in His Messiasship, His | 
two natures, God and Man. They were willing 
hearts, however, and so He bade them cling to Him 
by mere obedience. They knew He had the truth of 
God and the authority of God. Follow the light, is 
His exhortation, and it will finally dispel all your 
darkness. After saying this He found means to get 



i! THE TEMPLE AGAIN PURGED. 561 

ji away out of their reach, and to rest and be quiet : 
' ' Jesus therefore said to them : Yet a little while the 

I light is among you. Walk whilst you have the light, 
that the darkness overtake you not ; and he that 
walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 
Whilst you have the light believe in the light, that 
you may be the children of light. These things Jesus 

1 spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them." 
How noble a title is this — Children of Light ! 
They who rightly bear it, know that in the voyage 
of which Jesus is the pilot, it is by alternate light 
and darkness that one is best guided ; as on a dark- 
some coast the mariner is served by light-houses whose 
lamp is better seen because it does not shed a steady 
glow but flashes out suddenly after intervals of gloom. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE TEMPLE AGAIN PURGED OF BUYERS AND SELLERS. 
— "BY WHAT AUTHORITY DOST THOU THESE THINGS ? " 

Matt. xxi. 12, 13, and 23-27 ; Mark xi. 15-17, and 
27-33 ; Luke xix. 4.5, 46, and xx. 1-8. 

S a poisonous plant creeps upon a state- 
ly tree and gradually enwraps it and 
sucks up its life, so love of money in- 
sinuates itself into the service of God, 
even into the highest functions of reli- 
gion, and under forms of law and as 
vested rights the hateful vice of avarice 
is protected by the sacredness of the al- 
tar. At last it comes to this, that to 
tear away the parasite is to endanger 
the tree ; to reform religious abuses 
(nearly always rooted in money-getting) is to run 
the risk of stopping the work of religion altogether. 




562 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Men often defend abuses by asserting that ' ' under the 
circumstances ' ' they are indispensable to the worship 
of God. 

This we say on account of our L,ord's being again 
forced to cleanse the Temple of its traffickers. Of 
course they were the lessees of the false-hearted 
priests ; they had rented and paid for their stands ; 
they had " rights," and they had "long-established 
custom " ; they had " lawful authority " to back them : 
all this they had, and all this was only an aggravation 
of their sin. A bad excuse lends a deeper tinge of 
guilt to an offence. A wicked deed cannot be patched 
and mended ; it must be totally ended. 

Jesus had not a moment's hesitation. Rights to 
trade in the holy place there were none, nor could 
custom or authority make common traffic lawful in the 
house of prayer. He was especially indignant for two 
reasons : one was because this barter profaned the 
Gentiles' Court, for He loved the nations of the world 
and was sensitive to their rights in the Temple. This 
is seen by His quotation from Isaias (lvi. 7). An- 
other reason was that He had expelled these tra- 
ders once before and they had returned again. 

"And when He was entered into the Temple," 
says St. Mark, "He began to cast out them that 
sold and bought in the Temple, and overthrew the 
tables of the money-changers and the chairs of them 
that sold doves. And He suffered not that any man 
should carry a vessel through the Temple. And He 
taught, saying to them : Is it not written. My house 
shall be called the house of prayer to all ?iations f but 
you have made it a den of thieves." 

This was especially exasperating to the leaders of 
the conspiracy. Not only did He destroy a lucrative 
' ' business ' ' in which they were secret partners, but 



"BY WHA T AUTHORITY?* 563 

"He was teaching daily in the Temple." His com- 
manding figure shed authority from its every motion, 
His voice and not theirs was the trumpet of Israel, 
and they felt that they were superseded. " Hosanna 
to the Son of David ! ' ■ was the salutation of the people 
to this new man, this obscure country Rabbi. " The 
chief priests and the scribes and the rulers of the 
people," having considered all this, renewed their 
deadly purpose, and "they sought how they might 
destroy Him : for they feared Him because the whole 
multitude was in admiration at His doctrine, and they 
found not what to do to Him, for all the people were 
very attentive to hear Him." 

It looked to the public eye as if He were about to 
establish Himself permanently in the Temple. Every 
night He went away to Bethany, but only to reappear 
every morning in the holy place. His enemies saw 
that they must take decisive steps to ruin and end 
Him, and snatch from the people the new life which 
God had sent them. Meanwhile they tormented Him 
as best they might with questions, to extort incrimi- 
nating admissions. The morning after He had purged 
the Temple, and when He had come into the city and 
begun ' ' teaching the people in the Temple and 
preaching the Gospel, the chief priests and the scribes 
with the ancients met together and spoke to Him, say- 
ing : Tell us by what authority dost Thou these 
things, or who is he that hath given Thee this author- 
ity ? " If He had crept to their feet and asked their 
favor, He might have got it ; right or wrong, if He 
would serve their political purposes, He might have 
gained their tolerance, just as the money-changers 
had obtained it for helping their pecuniary interests. 
But the Messias was against them for their sins, for 
their impenitence, their hypocrisy, their venality. 



564 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

their use of their office for personal ambition and 
greed. 

And now they would draw Him into a snare of 
words. " By what authority dost Thou these 
things ? ' ' Instantly He referred them to His great 
forerunner and divinely chosen authentic, John the 
Baptist. He was a prophet by appointment of God, by 
miraculous birth, by a stupendous miracle of per- 
suasiveness unto repentance, acknowledged as a 
prophet by all. John's word was true if there was 
truth in Israel. He was witness for Jesus of Naza- 
reth. Other authority Jesus had in abundance : the 
healing of the sick, the cleansing of lepers, the release 
of demoniacs ; and Lazarus was there, the third dead 
man that He had recalled to life. What an honest 
Jewish scribe wanted and had a right to have was 
the law's authentic, a prophet's witness. Would these 
scribes admit the testimony of John ? If yes, the case 
was closed in Jesus' favor. If no, they were false 
to their vocation in Israel ; they would not accept a 
prophet. "I also will ask you," said Jesus, "one 
word, which if you shall tell Me, I will also tell you 
by what authority I do these things. The baptism of 
John, whence was it ? from Heaven or from men ? 
But they thought within themselves saying : If we 
shall say from Heaven, He will say to us : Why then 
did you not believe him ? But if we shall say from 
men, we are afraid of the multitude, for all held John 
as a prophet. And answering Jesus, they said : We 
know not. He also said to them : Neither do I tell 
you by what authority I do these things." 



PARABLE OF THE 7 WO SONS. 



565 



CHAPTER XIII, 



THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS. 



Matt. XX. 28-32. 

Whenever Jesus began to speak of John the Bap- 
tist He seemed to linger lovingly upon the theme. 
On this occasion He drew yet another lesson from His 
Precursor's mission. He insisted upon his call to 
penance as the voice of God. 

Smooth clerical politicians had 
gone to John to test him and to use 
him, and in that spirit had been 
baptized by him, professing a repen- 
tance they did not feel. " Ye brood 
of vipers," was what he called them. 
They have their successors in all 
orders of Christians, men and wo- 
men, in high places and in low, 
who say ' ' I will ' ' to the call of 
God, and yet go their ways, devious 
ways, after personal or party gain. Using the name 
and the office and the honors they bear for ends 
selfish and often deeply corrupt, such men, from the 
Baptist's time till now, are an offence in the sight 
of God and man, far more loathsome than open sinners 
who, at any rate, would not hide their vice with a 
cloak of religion. The brutal sinner is less offensive 
than the clever one. The repentance of a shameless 
reprobate is a glory to God and a joy to the an- 
gels ; and our Saviour holds it up as a pattern to 
those who hope to be saved while dexterously 
balancing an inward vileness with external pro- 
priety. 



But what think you ? A certain man 
had two sons, and coming to the first he 
said : Son, go work to-day in my vine- 
yard. And he answering said : I will not. 
But afterwards, being moved with repen- 
tance, he went. And coming to the other, 
he said in like manner. And he answer- 
ing said : I go, sir, and he went not. 
Which of the two did the father's will ? 
They say to him: The first. Jesus saith 
to them : Amen I say to you, that the pub- 
licans and the harlots shall go into the 
Kingdom of God before you. For John 
came to you in the way of justice, and 
you did not believe him ; but the publicans 
and the harlots believed him. But you 
seeing it, did not even afterwards repent, 
that you might believe him. 



566 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE PARABLES OF THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN, AND 
OF THE KING'S SUPPER. 

Matt. xxi. 33-46, xxii 1-14 ; Mark xii. 1-12 ; 
Luke xx. 9-19. 

Jesus now drove His lessons home by two parables. 
The meaning of the parable of the husbandmen was 
unmistakable : the perfidy of the leaders of the Jewish 
race in all its history, their slaughter of the prophets 
and their thirst for the blood of the Messias. Our 
Saviour's hearers felt the home-thrust: " Which they 
hearing said to Him : God forbid. But He looking on 
them, said : Have you never read in the Scriptures : 
The sto?ie which the builders 7'cjected, 
the same is become the head of the 
coriier. By the Lord this has been 
doue, and it is wonderful i?i our eyes. 
Therefore I say to you, the King- 
dom of God shall be taken from you 
and shall be given to a nation 
yielding the fruits thereof. And 
whosoever shall fall on this stone 
shall be broken ; but on whomso- 
ever it shall fall, it shall grind him 
to powder." 

The parable and its application 
form one of the most pointed of our 
Saviour's many arraignments of 
official Judaism. History offers no 
parallel to the strange infatuation 
of the race, from the time when in 
their wheat fields and pastures the 
sons of Israel sold their brother 



There was a man, an householder, who 
planted a vineyard and made a hedge 
round about it, and dug in it a press, and 
built a tower, and let it out to husband- 
men, and went into a strange country. 
And when the time of the fruits drew nigh, 
he sent to the husbandmen a servant, to 
receive of the husbandmen of the fruit of 
the vineyard. Who having laid hands on 
him, beat him and sent him away empty. 
And again he sent to them another ser- 
vant, and him they wounded in the head 
and used him reproachfully. And again 
he sent another, and him they killed, and 
many others, of whom some they beat, and 
others they killed. Then the lord of the 
vineyard said : What shall I do ? Having 
therefore yet one son most dear to him, 
he also sent him unto them last of all, 
saying : I will send my beloved son ; it 
may be, when they see him, they will 
reverence him. Whom when the husband- 
men saw, they thought within themselves, 
[and] said one to another : This is the 
heir ; come, let us kill him, and we shall 
have his inheritance. And taking him, 
they cast him forth out of the vineyard and 
killed him. When therefore the Lord of 
the vineyard shall come, what shall he do 
to these husbandmen ? He will come and 
will destroy those husbandmen, and will 
give the vineyard to others. 



THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN. 



567 



Joseph to the Madianite caravan, down to the time 
when they will force upon Pilate the murder of 
their King, bought by them from the traitor Judas 
for thirty pieces of silver. They were now a doom- 
ed race. Their nation, after giving its truest mem- 
bers to the Redeemer's Church, should be scattered 
abroad to the ends of the earth. They will bear, 
indeed, the law of Moses with them, but emptied of 
its promises. The Jewish race will bear about with 
it the law of Moses as a stigma of shame ; it is as if 
a murderer were condemned, in lieu of the death 
penalty, to wear for ever the blood-stained clothes of 
his victim and even to be called by his name. And 
the religion of the Jews, perfected beyond all the 
dreams of their prophets, be- 
comes the heritage of the hated 
Gentiles. 

All this was taught by Jesus 
in the Temple of Jerusalem, 
His glances sweeping outwards 
away beyond the crowd stunned 
by His words, and taking in 
the many millions of the con- 
temporary and the future races 
of mankind. He had fixed 
His hearers' minds upon their ^ 
own race, for in the Hebrew \ i y^f- 
prophets Israel was called the 
vineyard of the Lord ; and as 
He went on and told of their 
oft-repeated rejection of Jeho- 
vah's messengers, and by pain- 
ful repetition had shown through the thin veil of His 
parable the cruel and brutal murder of the prophets, 
and even when not murdered, their rejection by the 




A VINEYARD IN THE EAST. 



5 68 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



people and priesthood ; when at last 
He came to the direful climax, the 
coming of God's Son to them, the 
Only-Begotten of the Father, and 
the result of it — their murmurs, 
their proud suspicions, their insist- 
ing on their own terms, their secret 
plotting, their awful resolve to kill 
Him ; when He had reached this 
fulness of their guilt, the better- 
minded caught their breath and 
cried out : ' ' God forbid ! " in a tor- 
ment of shame and foreboding. But 
Jesus stood to the facts. He read 
the truth in the hearts of many pre- 
sent before Him ; already He felt 
the iron of their deadly words to 
Pilate, "Crucify Him!" sinking 
into His soul. " The Kingdom of 
God," He insisted, "shall be taken 
from you." 

The chief priests had their emis- 
saries present, and they knew that 
He spoke all these things of themselves. Their fin- 
gers itched for His throat, but they were too cunning, 
too cautious to brave the multitude by seizing 
Him ; other men were no less edified than they 
themselves were appalled by the daring Rabbi 
of Nazareth, as He closed the long line of the 
prophets of Israel by His word-pictures of Israel's 
guilt and ruin. So the conspirators bided their 
time. And then Jesus gave His audience an- 
1 other parable, one that His nearest followers had 

" Sent his servants to call heard before. 

them that were invited." It exhibited the Hebrew race as the invited 



And Jesus answering, spoke again in 
parables to them, saying : The Kingdom 
of Heaven is likened to a king, who made 
a marriage for his son. And he sent his 
servants to call them that were invited 
to the marriage, and they would not 
come. Again he sent other servants, say- 
ing : Tell them that were invited, behold I 
have prepared my dinner; my beeves and 
fatlings are killed, and all things are 
ready ; come ye to the marriage. But they 
neglected and went their ways, one to his 
farm, and another to his merchandise. 
And the rest laid hands on his servants, 
and having treated them contumeliously, 
put them to death. But when the king 
heard of it, he was angry, and sending 
his armies he destroyed those murderers 
and burnt their city. Then saith he to 
his servants : The marriage indeed is ready, 
but they that were invited were not worthy. 
Go ye therefore into the highways, and 
as many as you shall find, call them to the 
marriage. And his servants going forth 
into the ways, gathered together all that 
they found, both bad and good, and the 
marriage was filled with guests. And the 
king went in to see the guests, and he saw 
there a man who had not on a wedding 
garment. And he saith to him : Friend, 
how earnest thou in hither, not having on 
a wedding garment ? But he was silent. 
Then the king said to the waiters : Bind 
his hands and feet, and cast him into the 
exterior darkness ; there shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth. For many are 
called, but few chosen. 




THE RELA HON OF CHURCH AND STATE, 



569 



guests of the Lord's wedding feast ; told of many of 
them scorning the honor ; of their places being taken 
by the general mass of mankind, and these in turn 
winnowed of the personally unworthy, till the banquet 
is filled with the King's faithful friends. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE RELATION OF CHURCH AND STATE. 

Matt. xxii. 15-22 ; Mark xii. 13-17 ; Luke xx. 20-26. 

The Pharisees were notoriously of the national 
party, as the Herodians were of the Roman party, and 
the two factions were at deadly feud with each other. 
Yet both hated Jesus intensely. 
Hence their ill-sorted alliance in 
putting Him to public question on 
the perilous subject of Caesar's au- 
thority. Though the Pharisees rated 
the Herodians as traitors to both 
religion and fatherland, and the 
Herodians were the home guards 
of the Roman garrison, yet they 
were ready to unite against Jesus. 
Evil has many varieties, but all of 
them make men equally enemies of 
the Son of God. 

Both parties were well trained 
in hypocrisy, and they baited their 
snare to entrap the Saviour in His 
speech, with a pretence of admira- 
tion for His manly qualities. " Mas- 
ter, we know that Thou speakest and teachest rightly, 
and carest not for any man, for Thou regardest not the 
person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth. 



Then the Pharisees going, consulted 
among themselves how to ensnare him in 
his speech. And they sent to him their 
disciples with the Herodians, spies who 
should feign themselves just, that they 
might take hold of him in his words, that 
they might deliver him up to the authority 
and power of the governor. And they 
asked him, saying : Master, we know that 
thou speakest and teachest rightly, and 
carest not for any man, for thou regardest 
not the person of men, but teachest the 
way of God in truth. Tell us therefore 
what dost thou think ? Is it lawful for 
us to give tribute to Caesar or not ? But 
Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said: Why 
do you tempt me, ye hypocrites ? Show 
me the coin of the tribute ; and they 
offered him a penny. And Jesus saith to 
them : Whose image and inscription is 
this ? They say to him : Caesar's. Then 
he saith to them : Render therefore to 
Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and 
to God the things that are God's. And 
they could not reprehend his word before 
the people, and wondering at his answer 
they held their peace, and leaving him, 
went their ways. 



57° 




"o God the things that are 
God's." 




They offered Him a 
penny." 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Tell us therefore what dost Thou think ? Is 
it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar or 
not ? " 

Their purpose was to wreck the Messias 
upon the rock of the Roman Empire. To em- 
broil the representatives of religion with the 
civil authoritjr is now, as it was then, the aim 
of wicked and ambitious schemers ; it will al- 
ways be so. If Christ shall sa}-, " Pay the 
tribute," then He is a traitor to His theocratic 
nation; if He shall say, "Do not pay the 
tribute," He is a rebel against Rome. In 
either case He is ruined. The Master was 
not to be entrapped ; nor would He hurt His 
frankness by an evasion. What they had hypo- 
critically said of His fearless truth-telling was 
entirely correct, and His answer proved it, 
V though it baffled them. He taught first that 
* Caesar had just authority, for as a matter of 
" fact his rule preserved order, and so far at least 
was entitled to the tribute ; yet He taught that 
the Roman authority was not unlimited, for 
God's majesty is above all, and this stood for 
religion, for equity between man and man, for 
peaceful and just administration of the laws. 
Furthermore, a plain inference from the an- 
swer of Jesus was that in purely mundane af- 
fairs the State is not subject to the Church, 
each being independent in its own sphere. 

The Messias had previously taught that 
He had not been set over men to settle dis- 
putes about a family inheritance, a matter 
which belonged to the civil tribunals ; and now 
He taught that neither He nor His Church 
could be forced to decide between rival 



"NEITHER MARRY NOR BE MARRIED: 1 571 

claimants for secular princedom. Let men and nations 
adhere openly to His religion, let them be submis- 
sive to His religious and moral influence and to that 
of His Church after Him, and they shall be able to 
form civil codes, establish civil tribunals and minister 
to the temporal welfare of the people, guided by 
wisdom from above — but in such affairs they were 

1 not immediately subject to the Church's authority. 

J Referring, therefore, the case offered Him to its proper 

I sphere, that of the private and public conscience of 
men in secular matters, Jesus, first unveiling the 

; deceit of His questioners, made His far-famed answer. 
It is a brief summary of all the learning on the 
delicate subject of the relation of Church and State : 
"He saith to them: Render therefore to Caesar the 
things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that 
are God's." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

"THEY SHAI.lv NEITHER MARRY NOR BE MARRIED." 

Matt. xxii. 23-33 ; Mark xii. 18-2 7 / Luke xx. 2J-4.0. 

The Sadducees were the agnostics of that era, 
unbelievers in immortality, especially the resurrection 
|of the body. Yet some of them, as we have seen, 
J were high in office, both Annas and Caiaphas being of 
Ithat sect. The Sanhedrin, however, was made up 
almost entirely of Pharisees, stiff adherents of ortho- 
! doxy, and as stiff tyrants over consciences by means 
!of their rabbinical observances. The Sadducees hated 
I Jesus from political motives mainly, for they were 
J tools of the Roman governor and satellites of the 
|Herods, enemies of religious movement and change 
of all kinds. The hatred of the Pharisees likewise 



572 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

had its origin in politics, though of a sort directly | 
opposite to those of the Sadducees, for the Pharisees \ 
were set upon revolution. They found Jesus at once 
peaceful in His aims and all powerful with the pet- j 
pie. The two sects could work together for this one j 
end : to destroy the Prophet of Nazareth. On all j 
other points they were at daggers drawn with each 
other. In their enmity to Jesus they often acted \ 
in concert, but sometimes separately. Immediately | 
after the defeat the Pharisees . had suffered over the ; 
question of the tribute, their ill-sorted allies, the j 
Sadducees, tried their chance with a difficulty which | 
no doubt had served them to confuse the Pharisees : j 
"And there came to Him that day the Sadducees, I 
who say there is no resurrection, and they asked | 
Him saying : Master, Moses wrote unto us that if | 
any man's brother die and leave his wife behind 
him, and leave no children, his brother shall take j 
his wife and raise up seed to his brother. Now 
there were seven brethren, and the first took a wife, ; 
and died leaving no issue. And the second took her, i 
and died, and neither did he leave any issue. And | 
the third in like manner. And the seven all took i 
her in like manner and did not leave issue. I^ast of : 
all the woman died. In the resurrection therefore, j 
when they shall rise again, whose wife shall she be 
of them? for the seven had her to wife." 

Such was the argument against man's immortality, 
a gross extension of bodily relations into a spiritual 
condition in order to prove the doctrine of a future 
life an absurdity. They would not believe what 
they could not understand ; they revolted against 
mysteries. Yet nothing can be more unreasonable 
than such an attitude of mind. Is there no knowl- 
edge except full knowledge? And, furthermore, if 



"NEITHER MARRY NOR BE MARRIED." 573 

! God be all powerful, does it not follow that His work 
j shall be hard to understand, since many an intelli- 
gent man cannot understand even a great poet, or 
!| the intricacies of a problem in mathematics. The 
j Sadducees belonged to the class who will worship a 
] man because he is great beyond their comprehen- 
j sion, and yet they exact of the great God that His 
j works shall be brought down to their level, even in 
! reference to the mysterious life of disembodied spirits. 
I Sensual men they were in their tastes and conduct, 
and cynics and sceptics in their frame of mind, trim- 
mers in their politics, content, as to religion, with 
the bark of the Mosaic tree, its civil advantages, its 
racial privileges. Hence their choice of this puzzling 
question, and hence their flippant style of wording 
it. Nothing hurts a sensualist so much as the affirma- 
tion of human dignity, and the worthiness of man for 
a high destiny. With the Sadducees the sensual en- 
joyment of women's company was ever in their 
thoughts as the chief happiness of life, whether here 
or hereafter; an Oriental trait religiously perpetu- 
ated in the joys, earthly and heavenly, of the un- 
clean sect of Mahomet. 

The answer of Jesus was a bright ray from the 
celestial life, telling of the freedom of the saints in 
Heaven from sexual trammels. Both Scripture and 
unaided reason might teach them that in that blissful 
state there was no need of marriage to propagate a 
race of immortals : ' ' Do ye not therefore err because 
you know not the Scriptures nor the power of God ? 
For when they shall rise again from the dead, they 
shall neither marry, nor be married, but are as the 
angels in Heaven. The children of this world marry 
and are given in marriage, but they that shall be 
accounted worthy of that world, and of the resurrec- 



574 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

tion from the dead, shall neither be married nor take 
wives. Neither can they die any more, for they are 
equal to the angels, and are the children of God, 
being the children of the resurrection." 

How beautiful a vision of our future life, in which 
every noble love of man and woman shall outlive the 
body and become refined like the sexless purity of 
the angels ! Not the frenzy of carnal appetite but 
the joy of angelic union shall be the mutual love of 
those doubly regenerate souls. 

The Sadducees were condemned even b}- the pagan 
philosophers in their disbelief in immortality, but yet 
they had the effrontery to claim to base it on the 
books of Moses. Though the future life is everywhere 
presupposed by the Hebrew lawgiver, yet he does 
not openly teach it. The Book of Job, a divine reve- 
lation contemporary with Moses if not antedating it, 
and perfectly well known to the Israelites, taught 
immortality explicitly. It was a dogma which the 
immemorial tradition of the entire human race had 
sacredly transmitted. But these sensualists would 
neither learn from the implied teaching of Moses, 
nor the express tradition of the whole world as wit- 
nessed in the inspired pages of Job. Our Saviour 
unveiled the teaching of God in the book of Exodus : 
" And as concerning the dead that they rise again, 
have you not read in the book of Moses, liow in the 
bush God spoke to him, saying : I am the God of 
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of 
Jacob ? He is not the God of the dead, but of the 
living. You therefore do greatly err." The inference 
doubtless seemed far-fetched to sceptics like the Sad- 
ducees. But it was God's meaning followed by the 
clear eye of Jesus out beyond the reach of their 
narrow vision. The people saw it plainly enough, 



r^£" Si?^ r COMMANDMENT. 575 

including some of the Scribes : * ' And the multitude 
j hearing it were in admiration at His doctrine. And 
some of the Scribes answering said to Him : Master, 
thou hast said well. And after that they [the Sad- 
ducees] durst not ask Him any more questions." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT. — "WHAT THINK YOU 
OF CHRIST." 

Matt. xxii. 34-46 ; Mark xii. 28-37 ; Luke xx. 4.1-44. 

Of all the people of Israel, the Pharisees were 
assuredly those who should have welcomed the Mes- 
sias and aided Him in His mission. Some of them 
did so, timidly at least ; the great majority were 
squarely against Him because, while they were wholly 
national, the purpose of Jesus was to establish an 
international and universal religion. A few wavered 
between the new prophet and His opponents, and 
these constantly tried or ■ ' tempted - ' Him. 

A case in point was the question asked by a 
Scribe about the paramount precept of the law, which 
followed the discomfiture of the Sadducees concern- 
ing the resurrection of the dead. His act seems to 
j have been agreed on at an informal meeting of 
j his fellows. "Master, which is the great command- 
I ment of the law ? ' ' 

The typical Pharisee would have been pleased with 
I such an answer as this : The great commandment 
j of the law is to be a true Jew ; or this : It is to 
I keep the liturgical observances. The typical Saddu- 
| cee would have been pleased with a different reply: 
I The great commandment is to keep the peace and 



576 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



enjoy the good things of life. No 
Sadducees would be satisfied with 
any answer Jesus could possibly 
give. But many of the Pharisees — 
some gladly, others in spite of them- 
selves — must have assented to the 
answer actually given. It was the 
same that had been drawn out by 
Jesus from another lawyer on a pre- 
vious occasion (Luke x. 25) , as the 
condition for eternal salvation: 
11 And Jesus answered him : The 
first commandment of all is : Hear, 
O Israel, the Lord thy God is one 
God ; and thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God with thy whole heart, and 
with thy whole soul, and with thy 
whole mind, and with thy whole 
strength. This is the greatest and 
the first commandment. And the 
second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as) 
thyself. There is no other commandment greater than: 
these; on these two commandments dependeth the; 
whole law and the prophets." 

It was a sweeping answer totally removing all mis-: 
conception as to the highest obligation on man's: 
conscience, and it was well worthy the consideration.' 
of legalists and formalists, as well as all kinds of: 
disciplinarians. Conformity is right, and legal ob- 
servance is a duty, but the main purpose of religion, 
says Jesus Christ in summarizing all truth of God, 
natural and revealed, is to cleave to God with our 
affections, and esteem our neighbor's welfare as much 
as we do our own. For the sake of this are given 
not only rules of conduct and forms of worship, but 



But the Pharisees, hearing that he had 
silenced the Sadducees, came together. 
And one of them, a doctor of the law, that 
had heard them reasoning together, and 
seeing that he had answered them well, 
asked him, tempting him : Master, which 
is the great commandment of the law ? 
And Jesus answered him : The first com- 
mandment of all is : Hear, O Israel, the 
Lord thy God is one God ; and thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with thy whole 
heart, and with thy whole soul, and with 
thy whole mind, and with thy whole 
strength. This is the greatest and the 
first commandment. And the second is 
like to it : Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
as thyself. There is no other command- 
ment greater than these ; on these two 
commandments dependeth the whole law 
and the prophets. And the Scribe said to 
him: Well, Master, thou hast said in 
truth that there is one God, and there is 
no other besides him. And that he should 
be loved with the whole heart, and with the 
whole understanding, and with the whole 
soul, and with the whole strength, and to 
love one's neighbor as oneself, is a greater 
thing than all holocausts and sacrifices. 
And Jesus, seeing that he had answered 
wisely, said to him : Thou art not far from 
the Kingdom of God. And no man after 
that durst ask him any question. 



1 THE GREA T COMMANDMENT. 577 

i 

Seven the eternal dogmas of religion. The Scribe 

| was won by this great answer. It made him at least 
a novice in the discipleship. 

Commandments exact obedience, and Jesus teaches 
: that the heart's allegiance is the only true obedi- 
J ence. God's law goes straight to the heart and wins 
! its interior conformity to outward observance. Re- 
I ligion must have a law which enforces itself on men 
| of good will ; the evil disposed it saves by appeal- 
I ing to their better selves. Such a law is love, the 
law of liberty, the law of union between legislator 
and subject. It claims all and gains all, mind, heart, 
soul, and body. It reaches the will through the in- 
telligence, which studies nothing except for the joy 
of love ; it reacts on the intelligence through the 
will, because love commands the thoughts as well as 
the emotions. 

The Scribe had asked but for the first and great- 
est commandment. Jesus gave him that and added 
what He could not separate from it, the second great 
commandment, as closely joined to the first as the 
humanity of Jesus was joined to His divine nature — 
the love of our neighbor. As the sovereignty of God 
is in His fatherhood, so the rights of our neighbor 
are in God's brotherhood. And all power and all 
right are rooted and grounded in love. Take that, 
He would say to the Scribe, and with it you can 
I measure all the dimensions of your duty to God, 
and you can assess the value of all the claims of 
1 humanity upon you. But oh what a tax on pride 
! and what a bankruptcy for self-love is this doctrine ! 
This was the end of questioning for the enemies of 
I Jesus, until they should seize and arraign Him in their 
i courts ; then they will put Him questions as rivets 
i to His fetters. But now he takes up the question- 



578 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

ing Himself. He had been catechised about a most 
essential point, the greatest law of God. He returns 
the favor by asking them, men of learning, to tell 
Him about the greatest act of God, the union in I 
one person of the human and the divine natures, 
David's Son and God's Son. It should have been 
the field of all their Biblical research, as it had 
been the burden of all God's prom- 
ises and the favorite theme of all the 
prophets — the Incarnation of the un- 
created Word in the seed of David. 
What could they teach about that ? 
for they were Rabbis and teachers 
in Israel. The common people, 
simple, direct in their judgment, 
God fearing, God expecting, had 
answered the question a few days 



And the Pharisees being gathered to- 
gether, Jesus asked them saying : What 
think you of Christ ? Whose son is he ? 
They say to him : David's. He saith to 
them : How then doth David in spirit in 
the Book of Psalms call him Lord ? saying 
by the Holy Ghost : The Lord said to my 
Lord : Sit on my right hand, until I make 
thy enemies thy footstool. If David then 
called him Lord, how is he his son ? And 
no man was able to answer him a word, 
neither durst any man from that day forth 
ask him any more questions ; and a great 
multitude heard him gladly. 



before by a tumult of joyous welcome: " Hosanna to 
the Son of David ; blessed is He that cometh in the 
name of the L/ord." A devout mind learns more by 
one loving glance into Scripture, than a proud doctor 
by a life-time of study. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

"THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES HAVE SITTEN ON 
THE CHAIR OF MOSES." — ' ' WOE TO YOU, SCRIBES 
AND PHARISEES." — THE WIDOW'S MITE. 

Matt, xxiii. 1-39 ; Mark xii. 38-44 ; Luke xx. 45-47, 
and xxi. 1-4. 

Jesus, now nearing the end of His life, took those 
who had fought against Him, set them over against 
the people, and condemned them in an invective the 
equal of which has never been known. But as the: 



* 



"WOE TO VOW, SCRIBES AND PHARISEES?' 579 

Pharisees and Scribes and Sadducees were officials 
of God's Covenant and stood for lawful authority 
among the Jews, the Master was careful to take 
account of that. Obedience is due to the law and 
not to the person who administers it. His authority 
is to be obeyed whether he be a worthy represen- 
tative of it or not. As a good man cannot make a 
bad law good, neither can a bad man make God's 
law bad, or his evil life absolve us from obedience 
to his lawful decisions. 

The Master gathered to Him both His chosen dis- 
ciples and the general mass of listeners for this im- 
portant teaching : ' ■ Then Jesus spoke to the multi- 
tudes and to His disciples, saying in His doctrine and 
in the hearing of all the people : The Scribes and 
Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses ; all 
things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you 
observe and do, but according to their works do 
ye not; for they say and do not." 

Then follows the terrible litany of the Pharisees' 
sins. They exempted themselves from the obligations 
which they enforced mercilessly on others : ' ' For 
they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay 
them on men's shoulders, but with a finger of their 
own they will not move them." 

They were Pleasers of Men, eaten up with vanity, 
and the meanest kind of vanity, that of parading 
religious fervor. "And all their works they do for 
to be seen of men ; for they make their phylacteries 
broad and enlarge their fringes." This was to abuse 
a laudable custom (Exodus xiii. 1-16) of wearing a 
little tablet as a memento of divine favors sewed to 
the sleeve; the Pharisees made this an ostentatious 
and boastful parade of piety : ' ' Beware of the Scribes 
who desire to walk in long robes, and love saluta- 



580 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

tions in the market-place, and the first chairs in the 
synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts, and to be 
called by men Rabbi." 

They were Oppressors of the Poor, many of them 
being usurers, foreclosing mortgages upon their debtors 
as savage beasts close their jaws upon their prey : 
"Who devour the houses of widows, feigning long 
prayers. These shall receive greater damnation." 

They were Usurpers of Authority. The title Rabbi, 
or Master or Teacher, was not theirs by deserving, 
yet they exacted it to the injury of the Mastership 
of God, whose plain teaching they obscured by human 
devices. It was only in this sense that Jesus forbade 
His teachers of men and His masters of doctrine to 
assume those titles. For if the Church gives the 
title of Master to her priests, it is because she stands 
for Christ, the only Master ; and if the people call 
their priest Father, it is by the divinely planted in- 
stinct of filial love for one who in his ministrations 
gives them the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood 
of Christ. And these distinctions but bring out the 
more clearly the brotherly equality of souls before 
God — all being one in their origin as children of God, 
one in their destiny, one in the means of attaining to 
it. Meantime the noblest distinction is seen in the hu- 
mility of the most gifted brethren in serving the lowly 
ones : "Be not you called Rabbi, for One is your 
Master and all you are brethren. And call none your 
father upon earth, for One is your Father, who is in 
Heaven. Neither be ye called masters, for one is your 
Master, Christ. He that is the greatest among you 
shall be your servant, and whosoever shall exalt him- 
self shall be humbled, and he that shall humble him- 
self shall be exalted." 

The Pharisees were Hypocrites. There is no vice 



"WOE TO YOU, SCRIBES AND PHARISEES:' 581 

more detestable than hypocrisy, for it is sin mas- 
querading in the honorable robes of godliness ; there 
is none more to be dreaded, because it can do its 
deadly work with impunity. The hypocrite is not 
only an enemy but a spy. Such was the Pharisee. 
Professing orthodox religion, he hindered men from 
the perfect religion of God, Jesus Christ. He made 
converts and embittered them with devilish pride and 
hate. " But woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees," ex- 
claimed the Master ; ' ' hypocrites ! because you shut 
the kingdom of Heaven against men ; for you your- 
selves do not enter in, and those who are going in 
you suffer not to enter. Woe to you, Scribes and 
Pharisees, hypocrites ! because you go round about 
the sea and the land to make one proselyte, and when 
he is made, you make him the child of Hell two-fold 
more than yourselves. " 

The Pharisees were Blind Guides, and wilfully so. 
They set themselves up to be teachers of the law of 
God, and they obscured instead of revealing it. They 
imposed upon men observances of their own inven- 
tion, and enacted laws where God had left liberty. 
By their additions and interpretations they made an 
already hard law intolerable. Our Saviour instanced 
their silly teaching about oaths : " Woe to you, blind 
guides ! that say : Whosoever shall swear by the 
Temple, it is nothing ; but he that shall swear by the 
gold of the Temple is a debtor. Ye foolish and 
blind ! for whether is greater, the gold, or the Temple 
that sanctifieth the gold ? And whosoever shall swear 
by the altar, it is nothing ; but whosoever shall swear 
by the gift that is upon the altar is a debtor. Ye 
blind ! for whether is greater, the gift or the altar 
that sanctifieth the gift ? He therefore that sweareth 
by the altar, sweareth by it and by all things that 



582 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

are upon it. And whosoever shall swear by the 
Temple, sweareth by it and by Him that dwelleth in 
it. And he that sweareth by Heaven, sweareth by 
the throne of God, and by Him that sitteth thereon." 
False orthodoxy, false zeal, false devotion, false direc- 
tion of souls — hypocrisy, obstinacy, pride, greed, petti- 
ness, scrupulosity in trifling observances and barefaced 
laxity in the gravest religious duties: "Woe to you, 
Scribes and Pharisees ! because you tithe mint and 
anise and cummin, and have left the weightier things 
of the law, judgment and mercy and faith. These 
things you ought to have done, and not leave those 
undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and 
swallow a camel." 

The Pharisees were For??ialtsts. The}* reversed the 
true order, which is that the outer part of religion 
shall serve the inner part. They made everything 
tributary to the Jewish race and the Mosaic cere- 
monial. Both were good only as means to an end, 
which end was the love of God, and love of God's 
children in every race. They wore themselves out 
with ablutions of the body, and of the body only — 
their souls were full of vice: ''Woe to you, Scribes 
and Pharisees, hypocrites ! because you make clean the 
outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are 
full of rapine and uncleanness. Thou blind Pharisee, 
first make clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, 
that the outside may become clean. Woe to you, 
Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! because 3~ou are like 
to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men 
beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones and 
of all filthiness. So you also outwardly indeed appear 
to men just, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy 
and iniquity." 

Not only against the living did the Pharisees sin, 



"WOE TO YOU, SCRIBES AND PHARISEES." 583 

as being religious braggarts over their brethren, but 

also against their dead predecessors in office. For 

while they lauded the prophets whom their fathers, 

the ancient Jews, had persecuted, yet were they worse 

than they, for they persecuted the very Messias 

i Himself and were even now lying in wait to kill 

i Him. Jesus showed this in His condemnation of them 

1 as False Children of False Fathers. 

"Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 
that build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn 
the monuments of the just, and say : If we had been 
I in the days of our fathers, we would not have been 
1 partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 
Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that 
you are the sons of them that killed the prophets." 

Then follows an awful anathema, only to be ex- 
ceeded in horror by that invoked by the conspirators 
upon themselves not long afterwards: — "His blood 
be upon us and upon our children ! ' ' Jesus launches 
upon them the malediction of God for their Blood- 
guiltiness : ' ' Fill ye up then the measure of your 
fathers. You serpents, generation of vipers, how 
will you flee from the judgment of Hell? Therefore 
behold I send to you prophets and wise men and 
scribes, and some of them you will put to death and 
crucify, and some you will scourge in your syna- 
gogues, and persecute from city to city, that upon 
you may come all the just blood that hath been shed 
upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just, even 
unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, 
I whom you killed between the Temple and the altar. 
; Amen, I say to you, all these things shall come upon 
J this generation." 

It was not the gentle Master's custom to condemn 
! with unmixed severity, even when the case was, like 



5 8 4 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



He beheld how the people cast money 
into the treasury, and many that were rich 
cast in much. And there came a certain 
poor widow, and she cast in two mites, 
which make a farthing'. And calling his 
disciples together he saith to them : Amen, 
I say to you, this poor widow hath cast in 
more than all they who have cast into the 
treasury. For all they did cast in of their 
abundance, but she of her want cast in all 
she had, even her whole living. 



this, of unmitigated wickedness. 
His heart only the more generously 
overflowed when its waters of affec- 
tion had been for a moment re- 
strained by the duty of reproof. It 
was so now, as He looked over the 
heads of His scowling enemies, and 
opened His soul to the city of God, 
to the multitude of its dwellers and its hosts of 
pilgrim worshippers : ' ' Jerusalem, Jerusalem ! ' ' He 
cried in tones of deepest sorrow, His loving heart 
taking in all His enemies under the holy city's name, 
' ' thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them 
that are sent unto thee; how often would I have 
gathered together thy children, as the hen doth 
gather her chickens under her wings, and thou 
wouldst not. Behold your house shall be left to you 
desolate. For I say to you, you shall not see Me 
henceforth till you say : Blessed is he that 
cometh in the name of the Lord." Only 
when this singularly obstinate race shall be 
glad to recognize the Messias will He return 
to renew His mission. When shall that be? 
St. Paul affirms that the ' ' fulness of the 
Gentiles ' ' will precede the entrance of the 
Jews into Christ's kingdom. 

Exhausted, perhaps, by His long and 
violent debate, Jesus withdrew into the wo- 
men's court and sat down opposite the 
treasury, as was called the place for the 
deposit of the legal dues for the support of 
the Temple. He watched with interest the 
different kinds of people and their various 
manner of making their offering. Touched 
'She of her want cast in all she had." with the generosity of one poor woman, He 




THE UNBELIEF OF THE PHARISEES. 



585 



gave a beautiful lesson. Thus He taught in the day- 
time in and about the Temple, and at night retired 
to Bethany, or to the tent of a disciple on Mount 
Olivet, all the people watching again in the morn- 
ings for His return. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE UNBELIEF OF THE PHARISEES. — THE UNION 
OF THE MESSIAS WITH HIS ETERNAL FATHER. 

John xii. 3J-50. 

Before dismissing the subject of the Pharisees 
and their vices, Jesus discoursed upon their unbelief. 
This had been a subject of prophecy: "And whereas 
He had done so many miracles before them, they be- 
lieved not in Him, that the saying of Isaias the 
prophet might be fulfilled which he 
said : Lord, who hath believed our 
hearing ? and to whom hath the arm 
of the Lord been revealed? " It was 
not that God hindered their belief 
in order that His prophet might be 
justified, but their unbelief was a 
penalty of their pride and hypocrisy. 
"Therefore they could not believe, 
because Isaias said again : He hath 
blinded their eyes, and hardened their 
heart, that they should not see with 
their eyes, nor understand with their 
heart, and be cojiverted and I should heal them. These 
things said Isaias when he saw His glory and spoke 
of Him." 

Although the divine persuasion of Jesus won some 
minds among the Jewish leaders, yet these being set 



But Jesus cried out and said : He that 
believeth in me, doth not believe in me, 
but in him that sent me. And he that 
seeth me, seeth him that sent me. I am 
come a .light into the world ; that whoso- 
ever believeth in me, may not remain in 
darkness. And if any man hear my words, 
and keep them not : I do not judge him : 
for 1 came not to judge the world, but to 
save the world. He that despiseth me, 
and receiveth not my words, hath one that 
judgeth him ; the word that I have spoke-n, 
the same shall judge him in the last day. 
For I have not spoken of myself, but the 
Father who sent me, he gave me command- 
ment what 1 should say and what I should 
speak. And I know that his command- 
ment is life everlasting. The things there- 
fore that I speak ; even as the Father said 
unto me, so do I speak. 



586 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

upon their worldly interests and the honors of the 
synagogue, did not rise to the courage of their convic- 
tions. St. John says: "However, many of the chief 
men also believed in Him, but because of the Phari- 
sees they did not confess Him, that they might not be 
cast out of the synagogue. For they loved the glory 
of men more than the glory of God." How often do 
we see the interests of true religion risked, procras- 
tinated, and finally ruined, because its advocates, 
sometimes even its official guardians, are inspired by 
worldly prudence rather than by manly courage in its 
defence. To avoid trouble, to postpone trouble — here 
is the smooth excuse of most of those who allow truth 
and virtue to go to wreck, yielding to cowardice under 
the guise of prudence. Such was the fatal vice of 
the Pharisees and elders of Judaism who believed in 
Christ. 

That they and all others dealt with the eternal 
Father when they dealt with Jesus, He had often en- 
forced upon His hearers. He did so once more and 
with great " emphasis : *'But Jesus cried out and said : 
He that believeth in Me, doth not believe in Me but in 
Him that sent Me. And He that seeth Me, seeth Him 
that sent Me. I am come a light into the world, that 
whosoever believeth in Me may not remain in dark- 
ness." And this light-giving was life-giving; for it 
was to redeem men from sin that He taught as well 
as suffered, and His office of judge was to be mani- 
fested only after all this was done : ' ' And if any man 
hear My words and keep them not, I do not judge 
him, for I came not to judge the world but to save 
the world." How judgment exists and how it has 
its rights He shows : ' ' He that despiseth Me and re- 
ceiveth not My words, hath One that judgeth him." 
It is God the Father who judges in the secret con- 



ONE WITH HIS ETERNAL FA THER. 587 

science of the culprit; and at a final reckoning the 
word of truth, now rejected, shall rise up against the 
sinner as the record of his crime of wilful unbelief: 
" The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge 
him in the last day." The conclusion is plain — the 
Father and the Son are one, and their message is their 
one divine revelation of the commandments and the 
life of God : " For I have not spoken of Myself, but 
I the Father who sent Me, He gave Me commandment 
what I should say, and what I should speak. And 
I know that His commandment is life everlasting. 
The things therefore that I speak, even as the Father 
said unto Me, so do I speak." 

The public ministry of Jesus was near its end, and 
nothing could be more miserable than what seemed to 
be its results. Jesus was now departing from the 
Temple of His Father as a man devoted to condem- 
nation and death by the leaders of the Father's peo- 
ple and religion. The secular ambition of the race 
had grown so strong that it smothered its spiritual in- 
stincts, which like a tree whose trunk has been wound- 
ed, gave forth only the barren leaves of greed for 
worldly power, and an overgrowth of formalism in re- 
ligion. Jesus had failed ; in spite of the sublimity of 
His doctrine, the holiness of His life, the amazing 
! power of His miracles, He had failed. His people, 
I taken in their leaders and rulers, were unconvinced; 
jand these leaders and rulers had entered into a con- 
jspiracy which was to put Him to torture and to 
death. 

Weighed down with the woe of this, Jesus went out 
'from the Temple for the last time. 



588 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE TERRIBLE PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OP 
THE CITY AND THE END OF THE WORLD. 

Matt. xxiv. 1-13 ; Mark xiii. 1-9 ; Luke xxi. 5-13. 

The Messias, before leaving the outer enclosure 
of the Temple, turned sadly and gazed upon its splen- 
did colonnades and massive front. "One of His dis- 
ciples saith to Him : Master, behold what manner of 
stones and what buildings are here." The words 
were an exclamation of joy and of religious and racial 
pride in the glories of the Temple of Jerusalem. But 
such feelings were not those of Jesus ; rather He was 
filled with the omens of future doom, and saw the 
Temple and the race which adored God in it beaten 
to the earth and scattered abroad : ' ' And Jesus an- : 
swering saith to him : Seest thou all these great 
buildings ? The days will come in which there shall ! 
not be left a stone upon a stone that shall not be i 
thrown down." 

Evening was approaching as they moved out 
towards Bethany, passing over Mount Olivet, all minds : 
vibrating with this direful farewell to Israel's holy | 
shrine. When they had passed through the gate and 3 
were come to the summit of the steep ascent of the a 
Mount of Olives, Jesus sat down to rest. The Apostles J 
had conferred together, and their troubled minds now 
found voice. The foremost among them begged Jesus -> 
to explain His ominous utterance. The western sky l 
was illumined with the rays of the setting sun, andi { 
the massive structure of the Temple, with its pinnacles- 
and gables, was clearly defined against this bright- 
background: "And as He sat on the Mount of Olivet I 
over against the Temple, Peter and James and John 



THE TERRIBLE PROPHECY. 



589 



And as he was going out of the temple, 
one of his disciples said to him : Master, 
behold what manner of stones and what 
buildings are here. And Jesus answering 
said to him : Seest thou all these great 
buildings? The days will come in which 
there shall not be left a stone upon a stone 
that shall not be thrown down. Nation 
shall rise against nation and kingdom 
against kingdom. And there shall be great 
earthquakes in divers places, and pesti- 
lences and famines and terrors from heav- 
en, and there shall be great signs ; these 
things are the beginning of sorrows. But 
look to yourselves ; for before all these 
things they will lay hands on you and per- 
secute you, delivering you up to the syna- 
gogues and into prisons, dragging you be- 
fore kings and governors for my name's 
sake. And it shall happen unto you for a 
testimony. And this gospel of the king- 
dom shall be preached in the whole world 
for a testimony to all nations, and then 
shall the consummation come. 



and Andrew asked Him apart : Tell 
us, when shall these things be ? and 
what shall be the sign when all 
these things shall begin to be ful- 
filled ? '* This referred, as is plain, 
to the ruin of Jerusalem and the de- 
struction of the Temple. But they 
knew that their Master coupled with 
the end of Israel the end of the 
world, one being the shadowy type 
of the other. Hence they added : 
' ' And what shall be the sign of 
Thy coming ? ' ' 

Upon this the Master gave them 
and us His prophecy of the divine 
judgment. He told of the end of 
the chosen people and the end of the world, and His 
words were interspersed with many lessons for the 
guidance of the Church and her members in future 
ages. He mingled all these together, and for that 
reason the brief account of the Evangelists lacks the 
clear divisions which His own careful teaching must 
have secured. Faithful Jew as Jesus was, the de- 
struction of the Holy City was to Him, and must 
ever remain to us, of gravity great enough to make its 
awful terrors the outlines of His picture of the end 
of the world itself. 

First He warned the new Church against the vari- 
ous impostors who should arise (as history tells us they 
actually did arise) in the near future, wild leaders of 
fanatical Jews, aggravating the woes of the people and 
hastening their slaughter : ' ' And Jesus answering 
said to them : Take heed that no man seduce you. 
For many will come in My name, saying : I am 
Christ; and they will deceive many, saying: I am 



59° . LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

He, and the time is at hand; go ye not after them." 
He exhorts them to rise above the human terrors of 
war, as indeed the Church of Christ has always done, 
gaining souls and even whole races amid its horrors. 
"And when you shall hear of wars, and rumors of 
wars, and seditions, be not terrified ; these things 
must first come to pass, but the end is not yet." 
What He thus calls the ■ ' beginning of sorrows ' ' are 
the convulsions of both the moral and the material 
universe : " Nation shall rise against nation, and king- 
dom against kingdom. And there shall be great 
earthquakes in divers places, and pestilences and 
famines and terrors from heaven, and there shall be 
great signs. These things are the beginning of sor- 
rows." The future trials of the Apostles and of their 
successors rise into the prophetic vision of their 
Master mingled with the scenes of war and destruc- 
tion marking the end of the Jewish nationality. 
"But look to yourselves," He said; "for before all 
these things they will lay hands on you, and persecute 
you, delivering you up to the synagogues and into 
prisons, dragging you before kings and governors for 
My name's sake. And it shall happen unto you for a 
testimony. Then shall they deliver you up to be 
afflicted, and shall put you to death, and you shall 
be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And 
then shall many be scandalized and shall betray one 
another. ' ' 

Added to these trials was to be that of a spurious 
Christianity, various kinds of heresy and apostasy, 
traitors in the citadel as well as enemies battling out- 
side the gates. "And many false prophets shall rise, 
and shall seduce many. And because iniquity hath 
abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. But 
he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved." 

i 



PROPHECY OF THE END FURTHER ENFORCED. 591 

The hopeful soul of man may easily believe pro- 
phecies of triumph, but how hard for these Jews of the 
common stock of the people to credit the Lord's woe- 
ful vision of the end of their nation ? There before 
their eyes shone the gorgeous Temple, its roof glisten- 
ing with plates of beaten gold, its white marble front 
resplendent in the evening light with innumerable 
columns and majestic walls — all to go down in total 
ruin, irretrievable ruin, burying in hopeless death 
their venerated Hebrew faith. And instead? No 
promise except that of an essentially spiritual religion. 
Yet that was the holy gift of a miraculous faith, the 
soul's unshaken loyalty, a religion whose essence was 
spirit and truth, whose abiding temple was reserved 
for the Heavenly Jerusalem, whose race was no race, 
but all humanity united in an equal brotherhood. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE PROPHECY OP THE END FURTHER ENFORCED 
AND ENLARGED. 

Matt. xxiv. 14.-31 ; Mark xiii. 10-27 >' Luke xxi. 14-27. 

The destruction of the Temple and of the city, the 
end of the world, and the second coming of Jesus were 
three events which the Apostles thought would be 
simultaneous, and much that their Master had so far 
said seemed to justify this opinion. But as He went 
on they were thrown into that state of uncertainty as 
to ' ' times and moments ' ' in which all Christendom 
has ever since remained. From the time that St. Paul 
warned his converts at Thessalonica against believing 
that the day of the Lord was at hand (II. Thess. ii. 2) 
till our own day, writers and preachers have tried to 



592 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

read the signs foretold by Jesus, including great saints 
and pontiffs, seeing in the calamities of their times 
the gathering of the portents into their fulness ; but 
this has always proved illusory. As before noted, the 
whole prophecy is like the effect of three objects in 
line with each other and widely separated, but seen 
without perspective, their forms mingling and blend- 
ing indistinguishably together, known to be three and 
seen as one. The end of the Holy City was the type 
of the end of the world, and it pleased the Saviour 
to place both before our gaze as preceding His second 
coming, one actually, the other figuratively. It is 
only when thus interpreted that the lessons of this long 
and marvellous discourse of Jesus can be understood. 

Resuming His theme, He gave us one test of the 
nearness of the end which seems intelligible ; namely, 
the spread of His Kingdom. "And this Gospel of 
the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for 
a testimony to all nations, and then shall the con- 
summation come." This was afterwards supplemented : 
by St. Paul's revelation of the final conversion of I 
the Jews as a race following the Gospel's conquest ; 
of the entire Gentile world ; a gracious and consoling 
thought for all who realize that every sacred tie of ''■ 
blood kinship bound our Saviour most affectionately to } 
this unhappy people : ' ' For I would not have you 
ignorant, brethren, of this mystery (lest you should 
be wise in your own conceits), that blindness in part 
has happened in Israel, until the fulness of the Gen- 
tiles should come in. And so all Israel should be 
saved" (Rom. xi. 25). 

And now follows Christ's prophecy of the heroic 7 
career of His disciples, waging war against the cruel 
tyranny of the heathen, and also against the worldli- 
ness of their nearest relations. I<et any man compare - 



PROPHECY OF THE END FURTHER ENFORCED. 593 

the events of the first three centuries after Christ with 
this awful picture, and he will adore God no less in 
the constancy of the martyrs than in the steady ad- 
vance of their religion to final victory. 

It is calculated that from the death of St. Stephen, 
the first martyr, till the peace of the Church at the 
end of the third century no less than three millions 
of martyrs shed their blood for the 
honor of Jesus Christ — men, women, 
and even children ; nobles and 
slaves ; every grade of the priest- 
hood, including all but two of the 
Popes ; the unceasing sacrifice varied 
only by the heathen's greater or less 
ferocity, a tempest of rage which 
sometimes seemed to sweep the en- 
tire Christian religion from the face 
of the earth. Occasionally the fires 
of hatred were restricted to one or 
two localities, but embracing alto- 
gether ten separate persecutions by universal enact- 
ment and enforcement. But the faith of Christ could 
no more be exterminated by heathendom than the 
sunlight by darkness. The Light of the World 
climbed upwards every instant till at last it lit up the 
whole world with its glory. 

The Master resumes the Vision of the Judgment : 
"When therefore you shall see the abomination of 
desolation which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, 
standing in the holy place (he that readeth, let him 
understand) , and when you shall see Jerusalem com- 
passed about with an army, know then that the deso- 
lation thereof is at hand. Then let those that are in 
1 Judea flee to the mountains, and those that are in 
!the midst thereof depart out, and those who are in 



And when they shall lead you and de- 
liver you up, be not thoughtful beforehand 
what you shall speak, but whatsoever shall 
be given you in that hour, that speak ye. 
For it is not you that speak, but the Holy 
Ghost. For 1 will give you a mouth and 
wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not 
be able to resist and gainsay. And you 
shall be betrayed by your parents and breth- 
ren and kinsmen and friends, and some of 
you they will put to death. And the broth- 
er shall betray the brother unto death, and 
the father the son, and children shall 
rise up against the parents and shall work 
their death. And you shall be hated by all 
men for my name's sake, but a hair of your 
head shall not perish. In your patience 
you shall possess your souls ; but he that 
shall endure unto the end he shall be 
saved. 



594 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the countries not enter into it ; and he that is on the 
housetop, let him not come down to take anything 
•out of his house ; and he that is in the field, let him 
not go back to take his coat. For these are the days 
of vengeance, that all things may be fulfilled that are 
written." 

So dreadful are the facts of history about the siege 
and destruction of Jerusalem under Titus, a.d. 70, 
that they strain the power of belief. The city was 
crowded with pilgrims to the Passover when it was 
surrounded by the Roman legions, and thus a million 
of people were enclosed in the city walls. These were 
divided into two warring factions, and finally into 
three, butchering one another while endeavoring to 
beat back the terrible enemy outside. The siege lasted 
from early spring-time till the first week in September, 
and during that time upwards of 700,000 Jews, men, 
women, and children, are said to have perished by 
every conceivable kind of death, including self-murder, 
child-murder, starvation, plague, and cannibalism, the 
city being meantime surrounded by a circle of never 
ending slaughter in the struggle between the regular 
combatants on either side. At last the city fell, the, 
Roman eagles were placed over the Temple, the pagan 
gods were adored in the Holy of Holies, and the 
splendid edifice, the glory of the chosen people, one 
of the noblest memorials of the religious sentiment of 
the human race, was totally destroyed. Jerusalem was 
razed to the ground, its last vestiges being de- 
molished during the next century ; the plough passec 
over the city of David and the place where the 
name of the Lord had been honored for so many ages 
Previous to the siege, and for the sake of depriv 
ing the Jews of any other refuge after they had los 
their capital, every fortified place in Palestine hac 



r 




PROPHECY OF THE END FURTHER ENFORCED. 595 



been captured and garrisoned by the Romans or totally 
destroyed. The end was the dispersion, utter and 
perpetual, of the remnant of the people. Hence the 
picture our Saviour draws is not too gloomy, nor is it 
unworthy of being selected to typify the final calamities 
preceding the end of the world and the day of judg- 
ment. 

"But woe to them that are with child, and give 
suck in those days, for there shall be great distress 
in the land, and wrath upon this 
people. And they shall fall by the 
edge of the sword, and shall be led 
away captives into all nations ; and 
Jerusalem shall be trodden down by 
the Gentiles, till the times of the 
nations be fulfilled." 

( ' But pray that your flight be 
not in the winter, or on the Sab- 
bath ; for there shall be then great 
tribulation, such as hath not been 
from the beginning of the world un- 
til now, neither shall be. And un- 
less those days had been shortened, 
no flesh should be saved ; but for 
the sake of the elect those days shall 
be shortened." 

Amid the convulsions of the Ro- 
man invasion false Christs, history 
informs us, arose to incite the un- 
fortunate people to fresh outbreaks 
or to vain resistance. Our Saviour plainly foretells 
the same for the end of the world. 

What does the Master mean by ' ' the sign of the 
Son of Man," unless it be a great luminous cross? It 
will be resplendent in the sky, lighting up the dark- 



Then if any man shall say to you : L : 
here is Christ, or there, do not believe 
him. For there shall rise false Christs and 
false prophets, and shall show great sign 
and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if 
possible) even the elect. Behold I have told 
it you beforehand. If therefore they shall 
say to you : Behold he is in the desert, 
go ye not out ; Behold he is in the closets, 
believe it not. For as lightning cometh 
out of the east and appeareth even unto 
the west, so shall also the coming of the 
Son of Man be. Wheresoever the body 
shall be, there shall the eagles also be 
gathered together. And immediately after 
the tribulation of those days the sun shall 
be darkened, and the moon shall not give 
her light, and the stars shall fall from 
heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be 
moved and upon the earth distress of na- 
tions, by reason of the confusion of the 
roaring of the sea and of the waves, meii 
withering away with fear and expectation 
of what shall come upon the whole world. 
And then shall appear the sign of the Son 
of Man in heaven, and then shall all the 
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall 
seethe Son of Man coming in the clouds 
of heaven with much power and majesty. 
And he shall send his angels with a trumpet 
and a great voice ; and they shall gather 
together his elect from the four winds, from 
the farthest parts of the heavens to the 
utmost bounds of them. 



59« 



LIFE OF JESVS CHRIST, 



ened heavens with the victorious standard of the 
Crucified, a sign of love, a sign of power. When 
Christians begin any act of religion they mark them- 
selves with the sign of the cross. So shall Jesus mark 
Himself and His universe as He opens His great 
court for the world's judgment. 

Many learned men have tried reverently to fix the 
future date of this last act in the drama of God and 
Man, but in vain. Even Jesus Himself, though He 
must have known it, received it from the Father as 
something reserved from revelation: "But of that 
day or hour no man knoweth, neither the angels in 
heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." 




CHAPTER XXII. 

PERSONAL APPLICATION OP THE VISION OP JUDG- 
MENT. 

Matt. xxiv. 32-51 ; Mark xiii. 28-37 ; Luke xxi. 28-36. 

The Master's application of His prophecy 
to the judgment of every single soul at the 
point of death is directly associated with His 
teaching of the general judgment, being here 
interjected between the first scene — the destruc- 
tion of the present material world together with 
the divine heraldry of the Great Cross — and the 
detailed narrative of the event itself. 

" But when these things begin to come to 
pass, look up and lift up your heads, because 
your redemption is at hand. And He spoke 
to them a similitude : see the fig-tree and all 
the trees, when they now shoot forth their fruit you 
know that summer is nigh : so you also when you 
shall see these things come to pass, know that the 



THE VISION OP JUDGMENT, 



597 



Kingdom of God is at hand. Amen, I say to you, 
that this generation shall not pass away till all these 
things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, 
but My words shall not pass away." 

The prophecy would therefore be fulfilled, either 
in reality or in type, by the ruin of the race, the 
city, and the Temple of the Jews ; many of His 
hearers would live to witness this personally. As a 
people, the generation of Abraham should survive, 
though broken and scattered, till 
the end of the world, and it should 
then behold the final fulfilment. 

True to His practical mission, the 
Saviour of men now enforces the 
lesson of each one's personal pre- 
paration for death — a summary of 
all the woes of humanity, the meet- 
ing of the divine Judge and the 
human culprit in the reckoning be- 
tween personal human sin and per- 
sonal divine justice. 

With urgent and persistent force 
the Master develops the lesson of 
every one's personal responsibility 
to God ; not His mere obligation to 
observe a code of laws, but to pre- 
pare to stand face to face with the 
Law-maker. " Take ye heed, watch 
and pray, for ye know not when the time is, even as a 
man who, going into a far country, left his house and 
gave authority to his servants over every work, and 
commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore 
(for you know not when the lord of the house cometh, 
at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or 
in the morning) ; lest coming on a sudden he find you 



And take heed to yourselves lest perhaps 
your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting 
and drunkenness and the cares of this life, 
and that day come upon you suddenly. For 
as a snare shall it come upon all that sit 
upon the face of the whole earth. Watch 
ye therefore, praying at all times that you 
may be accounted worthy to escape all 
these things that are to come, and to stand 
before the Son of Man. And as in the 
days of Noe so shall also the coming of 
the Son of Man be. For as in the days be- 
fore the flood they were eating and drink- 
ing, marrying and giving in marriage, even 
till that day in which Noe entered into the 
ark ; and they knew not till the flood came 
and took them all away ; so also shall the 
coming of the Son of Man be. Then two 
shall be in the field ; one shall be taken 
and one shall be left. Two women shall 
be grinding at the mill ; one shall be 
taken, the other shall be left. Watch ye 
therefore, because you know not what hour 
your Lord will come. But this know ye, 
that if the good man of the house knew at 
what hour the thief would come, he would 
certainly watch, and would not suffer hi"s 
house to be broken open. Wherefore be 
you also ready, because at what hour you 
know not the Son of Man will come. 



59 8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



sleeping. And what I say to you 
I say to all: Watch." 

He goes on to show yet more 
distinctly that every man must 
guard his heart as being God's 
home, and his thoughts and affec- 
tions as God's household goods. 
"Who, thinkest thou, is a faith- 
ful and wise servant, whom his 
lord hath appointed over his fam- 
ily, to give them meat in season ? 
Blessed is that servant whom, 
when his lord shall come, he shall 
find so doing. Amen, I say to 
you, he shall place him over all 
his goods. But if that evil ser- 
vant shall say in his heart : My 
and shall begin to strike 
shall eat and drink with 
drunkards, the lord of that servant shall come in a 
day that he hopeth not, and at an hour that he 
knoweth not, and shall separate him, and appoint his 
portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weep- 
ing and gnashing of teeth." 




Two women shall be grinding at the mill." 

lord is long a-coming, 
his fellow-servants, and 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

THE WISE AND FOOLJSH VIRGINS. — FAITHFUL AND 
SLOTHFUL SERVANTS. 
Matt. XXV. 1-30. 

>> Amid the awful prophecy of the end of the city 
J| and of the world, the Master, as we have already 
k . v noticed, scattered the good seed of personal warn- 
ing. This lesson He enforced by two parables. 

EASTERN HEAD-DRESS & . 

for a festival. One was the drama of the wise and foolish vir- 




THE WISE AND FOOLISH VIRGINS. 



599 



Then shall the kingdom of heaven be 
like to ten virgins, who taking their lamps 
went out to meet the bridegroom and the 
bride. And five of them were foolish, and 
five wise. But the five foolish, having 
taken their lamps, did not take oil with 
them : But the wise took oil in their ves- 
sels with the lamps. And the bridegroom 
tarrying, they all slumbered and slept. 
And at midnight there was a cry made : 
Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth 
to meet him. Then all those virgins arose 
and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish 
said to the wise : Give us of your oil, for 
our lamps are gone out . The wise answer- 
ed, saying : Lest perhaps there be not 
enough for us and for you, go you rather 
to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 
Now whilst they went to buy, the bride- 
groom came : and they that were ready, 
went in with him to the marriage, and the 
door was shut. But at last came also the 
other virgins, saying : Lord, Lord, open to 
us. But he answering said : Amen I say 
to you, I know you not. 



gins. It was based upon the cere- 
monies and festivities of a Hebrew 
marriage. Pure wedlock was hon- 
ored by this race, not only as the 
highest natural condition of happi- 
ness, but also as the channel for 
the royal blood destined in the ful- 
ness of time to flow in the veins 
of the Chosen One. In associating 
His lesson of spiritual watchfulness 
with the most interesting event in 
human life — that of marriage — Jesus 
added greatly to the force of His 
teaching. 

We see at a glance that the 
lamp of the virgins is faith ; and 
as a lamp without oil is useless, and sometimes 
worse than useless, an aggravation of misery if it 
happens that life and death depend upon a lighted 
lamp, so is faith worse than useless when it lacks 
love. Charity is to faith what oil is to a lamp 
— charity which repents for sin in tender sorrow, 
which honors the Bridegroom's voice by prompt obe- 
dience, and also by con- 
stant watchfulness for His 
coming. Let those who rest 
their hope of heaven on the 
true faith, or even the sanc- 
tity of their state of life, or, 
again, on their intimate 
companionship with fervent 
Christians, — let all nominal 
Catholics take this parable 
as a warning. Love is due 
to the Heavenly Bridegroom, 




"Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out." 



6oo 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



Watch ye therefore, because you know 
not the day nor the hour. For even as a 
man going into a far country called his 
servants and delivered to them his goods. 
And to one he gave five talents, and to an- 
other two, and to another one, to every one 
according to his proper ability, and imme- 
diately he took his journey. And he that 
had received the five talents, went his way 
and traded with the same, and gained other 
live. And in like manner he that had re- 
ceived the two, gained other two. But he 
that had received the one, going his way 
digged into the earth and hid his lord's 
money. But after a long time the lord of 
those servants came and reckoned with 
them. And he that had received the five 
talents, coming brought other five talents, 
saying : Lord, thou didst deliver to me five 
talents, behold 1 have gained other five 
over and above. His lord said to him : 
Well done, good and faithful servant ! be- 
cause thou hast been faithful over a few 
things, I will place thee over many things ; 
enter thou into the joy of thy lord. And 
he also that had received the two talents 
came and said : Lord, thou deliveredst two 
talents to me, behold I have gained other 
two. His lord saith to him : Well done, 
good and faithful servant ! because thou 
hast been faithful over a few things I will 
place thee over many things ; enter thou 
into the joy of thy lord. But he that had 
received the one talent came and said : 
Lord, I know that thou art a hard man ; 
thou reapest where thou hast not sown and 
gatherest where thou hast not strewed ; and 
being afraid I went and hid thy talent in the 
earth ; behold here thou hast that which is 
thine. And his lord answering, said to 
him : Wicked and slothful servant, thou 
knewest that I reap where I sow not, and 
gather where I have not strewed ! Thou 
oughtest therefore to have committed my 
money to the bankers, and at my coming I 
should have received my own with usury. 
Take ye away therefore the talent from 
him and give it him that hath ten talents. 
For to every one that hath shall be given, 
and he shall abound, but from him that 
hath not, that also which he seemeth to 
have shall be taken away. And the un- 
profitable servant cast ye out into the ex- 
terior darkness ; there shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth. 



and He will have it or He will de- 
mand justice. When He comes 
He will choose His own time and 

place. Nothing but the Psalmist's 
preparation will content Him : ' ' My 
heart is ready, O Lord, my heart is 
ready " : it is full of the oil of 
charity, it is throbbing with love, it 
chooses Thee in preference to every- 
thing, it watches for Thee every day 
aud hour ; even in sleep it watches, 
and at the first cry, " Behold the 
Bridegroom cometh," it trims and 
lights its well-filled lamp, it utters 
its instinctive greeting of love. 

Never did dramatist set forth a 
more moving scene than Jesus in 
the shut door and the weeping 
sluggards outside, too late for the 
wedding feast, listening with de- 
spairing hearts to the voice from 
within: "Amen I say to you, I 
know you not." The other para- 
ble was, substantially, a repetition 
of that of the ten pounds, given on 
a previous occasion to a much 
larger and a less select audience 
(Luke xix. 12). 




THE LAST JUDGMENT 



601 




CHAPTER XXIV. 

THK I,AST JUDGMENT. 

Matt, xxv. j 1-46. 

How much is literal and how much 
figurative in the scenes of the Last Judg- 
ment given us in St. Matthew's Gospel it 
is not possible accurately to decide. But, 
even though the scenes and circum- 
stances and the terms of greeting and of 
reprobation may or may not be literal 
prophecies, this fact is literally certain : 
1 ? All nations shall be gathered together 
before Him," and shall be publicly 
judged. Also is this other fact certain : 
' ' the condemned shall go into everlasting 
punishment, but the just, into life ever- 
lasting." 

These stupendous words are but single instances 
in a series of teaching in which the Lord, either by 
His own words or those of His inspired interpreters, 
affirms the eternity of our future life, ' 
be it miserable or happy. In the New 
Testament the unending state whether 
of woe or bliss hereafter is taught near- 
ly seventy times, either fate often pre- 
sented in alternative — a challenge from 
divine love to human freedom of choice. 
Concerning this doctrine there is no 
room for doubt ; there is no place for 
questioning the meaning of Christ's 
words ; there is no refuge for Christian 
faith struggling with the awful dogma 
of eternal woe, except the refuge of the 

CrOSS. The mystery of the Cross, " Shall separate them one from another. n 



You know not the day nor 
the hour." 




602 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



And when the Son of Man shall come in 
his majesty, and all the angels with him, 
then shall he sit upon the seat of his majes- 
ty : And all nations shall be gathered to- 
gether before him, and he shall separate 
them one from another, as the shepherd 
separateth the sheep from the goats : And 
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, 

i but the goats on his left. Then shall the 
king say to them that shall be on his right 
hand : Come, ye blessed of my Father, pos- 
sess you the kingdom prepared for you 

: from the foundation of the world. For I 
was hungry, and you gave me to eat : I was 
thirsty, and you gave me to drink : I was a 
stranger, and you took me in : naked, and 

1 you covered me : sick, and you visited me : 
I was in prison, and you came to me. Then 

1 shall the just answer him, saying : Lord, 

1 when did we see thee hungry, and fed 
:hee ; thirsty, and gave thee drink ? And 
when did we see thee a stranger, and took 

1 thee in ? or naked, and covered thee ? Or 
vhen did we see thee sick or in prison, and 
came to thee ? And the king answering, 
shall say to them : Amen I say to you, as 
long as you did it to one of these my least 
brethren, you did it to me. Then he shall 
say to them also that shall be on his left 
hand : Depart from me, you cursed, into 
everlasting fire which was prepared for the 
devil and his angels. For I Avas hungry, 
?nd you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, 
iid you gave me not to drink. I was a 
_;ranger, and you took me not in: naked, 
and you covered me not : sick and in pris- 
on, and you did not visit me Then they 
c.lio shall answer him, saying : Lord, when 
did we see thee hungry or thirsty, or a 
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, 
„nd did not minister to thee ? Then he 
shall answer them, saying : Amen I say to 
vou, as long as you did it not to one of 
>ese least, neither did you do it to me. 
A these shall go into everlasting punish- 
ent : but the just, into life everlasting. 



however, is deeper than that of 
hell ; its revelation of divine love is 
more baffling to human scrutiny 
than that terrific word "Depart! " 
Hence it was precisely as the Sav- 
iour was preparing to ascend the 
Cross that He fully disclosed the 
terrors of the judgment. 

One might dwell for many pages 
on the scenes painted by the Mas- 
ter in this prophetic picture. Its 
study has formed the school whose 
pupils have filled the deserts and 
the cloisters of Christendom. The 
judgment anticipated has illumi- 
nated the annals of every state of 
life with heroic examples of the 
love of God and man. L,ove of 
man, indeed. For Jesus, who com- 
mands faith in God as the root of 
all virtue, and love of God as the 
life-sap in both root and branch, 
yet names neither faith in God nor 
love of God in this His balance- 
sheet of eternal reckoning. It is 
the kindly care of the sick, and:of 
the hungry and shivering poor, pity 
for the dis- 



graced 
imprisoned, these are 
the only reasons assign- 
ed for a reward of unending 
bliss. How great is the dignity 
of the kind heart ! How fruit- 
ful is the grace of Christ, since 




JESUS PREPARES FOR HIS LAST SUPPER. 

the very leaves and bark of this tree, the lower 
grades of Christian virtue, nourish the souls of 
men unto heavenly vigor. How noble is our 
poor humanity, since beneath the loathsome 
form of the beggar, and the guilty shrinking 
of the common criminal in the jail, Jesus Christ 
reveals His own divine self! These poor crea- 
tures are not merely His deputies ; they are of 
a new relationship which He has lovingly in- 
vented, and which is so near to Him that He 
can only fitly describe it as personal identity. 



603 




And all the angels 
with Him." 



CHAPTER XXV. 



JESUS PREPARES FOR HIS LAST SUPPER, AND THE 
CHIEF PRIESTS MAKE A BARGAIN WITH JUDAS. 
Matt. xxvi. 1-20 ; Mark xiv. i-ij ; Luke xxii. 1-14.. 
"Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is 
called the Pasch, was at hand." This is otherwise 
called the Passover, literally expressing the destroy- 
ing angel's passing over the Hebrew children in 
Egypt on his mission of death to all the first born 
male children of their oppressors. It was the high- 
est feast of the Jews and lasted for eight days, be- 
ginning on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month 
Nisan, which was the fifteenth day after the first 
new moon following the spring equinox. It was 
a sacrificial festival, but yet not exclusively re- 
served for the ministrations of the Temple and 
the priesthood, for the paschal lam 1 ) was offered 
in each household by the Jewish father at the 
head of his family, who consumed it with solemn 




I was in prison, and 
ye visited me." 



6o4 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST: 



ceremonies. The Passover was also named the feast 
of the unleavened bread, that being the only kind 
eaten during the whole week. 

Jesus knew that at the very time He would be 
celebrating this festival affectionately with His house- 
hold of Apostles, the household and synagogue of 
Satan would meet secretly to arrange for His be- 
trayal and murder. ' ' He said to 
His disciples: You know that after 
two days shall be the Pasch, and 
the Son of Man shall be delivered up 
to be crucified. Then were gathered 
together the chief priests and the 
ancients of the people into the court 
of the High-Priest, who was called Caiphas, 
and they consulted together that by subtilty 
they might apprehend Jesus and put Him to 
death." 

This meeting, though it embraced the Jew- 
ish authority as to its personnel, was not an 
official meeting of the Sanhedrin : it was a 
council of the corrupter fanatical leaders. 
The festival day named among them answers to 
Wednesday in our Holy Week, so that this con- 
sultation took place perhaps on the morning of that 
day, or more probably the previous evening after 
sunset. The conspirators were well aware that our 
Saviour's most ardent adherents were Galileans, 
a bold race and easily stirred to revolt, many thou- 
sands of whom would be present in Jerusalem for 
the Passover, a solemnity which often drew a million 
pilgrims to its shrine. The cunning of the enemies 
of Jesus was equal to their cruelty. They feared the 
people, and so they withheld the stroke of death 
till the Thursday and Friday following the great 







THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND JUDAS. 



605 



day of the feast. Perhaps they thought for 
the present of taking only remote means for 
His destruction, such as sounding Pilate and 
intriguing with him, for they well knew that 
they must have the aid of the Roman gar- 
rison in order to compass His death. 

An unexpected event hastened their plans 
to fulfilment, so that the crime was done and 
the end finally reached before the approaching 
Sabbath. This event was the treason of Judas. 

One of Christ's Apostles turned traitor, took 
the initiative, came to the chief priests without 
solicitation on their part and offered to deliver 
his Master into their hands. His terms were very sim- 
ple : money. Various words of Jesus show His pre- 
vious knowledge of this most detestable of all the 
crimes ever committed by that fallen humanity which 
He loved so well; nevertheless He did not expel the 
wretch from His chosen band : He would try to save 
Him to the very end ; He would set an amazing 
example of love's unwearying patience ; He would 
respect even in these desperate circumstances the 
mysterious dignity of man's free will. But the last 
struggle was now over in the soul of Judas. 

Who can fully understand his motives? He may 
have lost faith in the Master's Messiasship, he may 
have expected a larger sum as his price for Jesus' 
blood : whatever his motives, he finally took counsel 
only of the evil one. 

Judas was the only one of the Apostles who was 
not a Galilean, coming, as is generally thought, from 
Karioth in Judea, a town situated four hours' journey 
south-east of Hebron. The awful crime which has 
placed his name first in the list of the world's crimi- 
nals, has lifted into similar prominence the dreadful 




" And they were glad. 



606 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

vice of avarice. Yet after bargaining with the greedy 
high-priest he could get no more than the legal ex- 
change for a murdered slave (Exodus xxi. 32), 
amounting to about twenty dollars of our money. Pos- 
sibly he received promises of support or favor in addi- 
tion to this sum of money, or of 
further payments later on. But as 
it turned out the commutation for 
killing a slave was the highest price 
the betrayer of the Jews' Messias 
could obtain for his Master's blood 
— an insult calmly studied out by 
the chief priests amid their hot 
passions of hate, ambition, and 
avarice. An additional element of 
horror is that the money was part of 
the public funds, drawn from the 
treasury of the Temple. Out of the 
rich man's noble charity or vain ostentation and out of 
the poor widows' mites — out of money offered to support 
the worship of God the Father, was the betrayer of God 
the Son paid for his treason. Associated with the love 
of Jesus for our wicked race is the love of Judas for 
money. 



Then were gathered together the chief 
priests and the ancients of the people into 
the court of the high-priest, who was call- 
ed Caiphas, and they consulted together 
that by subtilty they might apprehend Jesus 
and put him to death. But they said : 
Not on the festival-day, lest perhaps there 
should be a tumult among the people. And 
Satan entered into Judas, who was sur- 
named Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And 
he went and discoursed with the chief priests 
and the magistrates how he might betray 
him to them: and [he] said to them : What 
will you give me, and I will deliver him to 
you ? And they were glad, and covenant- 
ed to give him thirty pieces of silver. And he 
promised. And from henceforth he sought 
opportunity to betray him, in the absence of 
the multitude. 




JESUS CELEBRATES THE JEWISH PASSOVER. 607 
CHAPTER XXVI. 

JESUS CELEBRATES THE JEWISH PASSOVER. 

Matt. xxvi. 17-20 and 29 ; Mark xiv. 12-17 an< ^ 2 S» 
Luke xxii. 7-18. 

This solemn banquet of thanksgiving, in which the 
Hebrews celebrated their deliverance from the bond- 
age of Egypt and commemorated all the subsequent 
glory of their elect race, was in the present case the 
final tribute of the Messias to the Mosaic law. 
Solemnly, His heart full of the omens of His approach- 
ing death, the Lamb of God prepared for the eating 
of that lamb of the Passover which was one of the 
most conspicuous types of Himself and of His mission 
of salvation. He prepared for the celebration in a 
miraculous manner, as being a worthy prelude to this 
solemn occasion. He secretly inspired a disciple 
living in the city to get ready a room with all 
the proper requisites, including the lamb itself, roasted 
and ready for eating. 

Jesus and His Apostles came back from Bethany 
the evening corresponding to our Holy Thursday. 
The narrative of what happened, blended from Mat- 
thew, Mark, and Luke, is as follows: "And the 
first day of the unleavened bread came, on which it 
was necessary that the pasch should be killed. And 
He sent Peter and John, saying : Go, and prepare 
us the pasch, that we may eat. But they said : 
Where wilt Thou that we prepare ? But He said 
to them : Behold as you go into the city there shall 
meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water ; follow 
him into the house where he entereth. And you 
shall say to the good man of the house : The Master 
saith to thee, My time is near at hand ; I will keep 



6o8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



the pasch at thy house. Where is My guest-cham- 
ber, where I may eat the pasch with My disciples? 
And he will show you a large dining-room furnished, 
and there prepare ye for us. And the disciples went 
their way, and came into the city, and they found 
as He had told them, and they prepared the pasch. 
And when evening was come, He sat down, and the 
twelve Apostles with Him." 

The paschal lamb used by our Saviour had been 
killed at the Temple, according to the Jewish cus- 
tom, on the afternoon prior to the feast. It was 
brought to the dining-room, having been roasted, 
as is most probable, by the disciple whom Jesus had 
engaged to provide all things necessary for the cere- 
mony. The little band of the 
Apostles, twelve in number, were 
like the twelve original tribes of 
that race whose children they 
were, and whose deliverance from 
worse than Egyptian bondage they 
were about to celebrate. Jesus, 
presiding as father of the family, 
observed faithfully the prescrip- 
tions of the law as they were in- 
terpreted in His time, very pro- 
As the opening ceremony of the 
feast He drank from a cup of wine, which He then 
passed to His Apostles, all offering a short prayer of 
thanksgiving ; and this was followed by the washing 
of hands. Next they ate of a salad of bitter herbs 
with unleavened bread, in memory of the sufferings 
of their ancestors during their slavery. Then followed 
a sweet aromatic sauce, typical of the divine favor 
which had always protected them, and after this the 
paschal lamb was brought in and placed on the table. 




THE PASCHAL BREAD. 



bably as follows : 



JESUS CELEBRATES THE JEWISH PASSOVER. 609 

It was solemnly blessed by the head of the family, 
a second cup of wine passed around, and the lamb 
divided and eaten. This was followed by a third cup 
of wine, which was called the cup of blessing, be- 
cause it accompanied the final thanksgiving. During 
the whole banquet Jesus would follow the custom of 
His people, explaining the meaning of each observance, 
and leading them in singing psalms of praise, such as 
cxii., cxiii., cxix. 

Of the Passover banquet itself the Evangelists have 
given us but the briefest account. But they tell 
us of two things which Jesus said, which in their 
deep tones of love and sorrowful farewell indicate 
how pathetic was the whole ceremony. One of these 
utterances was as follows : ' ' With desire I have desired 
to eat this pasch with 3'ou before I suffer. For I 
say to you, that from this time I will not eat it till 
it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God." Herein 
He spoke of His crucifixion, in which was fulfilled 
and finally completed all the prophetical significance 
of the lamb slain and eaten as the end of exile, and 
of the passing over by the angel of destruction of 
all souls sprinkled with His blood. The second re- 
corded speech of our Saviour is what He said when 
passing to His Apostles the cup which opened the 
feast. "And having taken the chalice, He gave 
thanks and said : Take and divide it among you. 
For I say to you that I will not drink of the fruit 
of the vine till the Kingdom of God come. ' ' Both of 
these utterances mean the same thing — the abroga- 
tion of the ancient rite, and the substitution in its 
stead of the new rites and observances of the Church 
of Christ. The foremost of these is the Eucharist, the 
mysterious banquet of Christ's own body and blood. 
This He was going to institute before they finished 



610 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

the evening, setting it in the place of highest dignity 
in the Church's worship. Jesus thus performed His 
last act of Jewish ritual observance, ate His last oas- 
chal lamb, and drank His last paschal cup.* 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

JESUS WASHES HIS DISCIPLES' FEET. 
John xiii. 1—20. 

If little is said by the Evangelists concerning 
the Jewish Passover celebrated by Christ and His 
Apostles, a very full account is given of what oc- 
curred after it was over, events of supreme inter- 
est to the human race. 

The Holy Spirit reserved to John, the latest 
Evangelist, the beloved disciple, and the chief ex- 
ponent of our Saviour's love, the description of the 
washing of the disciples' feet. What a spectacle! the 
Son of God stooping down and washing and wiping 
and kissing the feet of these rough men ! I^ove is 

* St. Luke's account of the celebration gives the whole of the Saviour's 
solemn announcement of His farewell to the Mosaic rites : " I say to you, 
that from this time I will not eat [the paschal lamb] till it be fulfilled in 
the Kingdom of God. And having taken the chalice, He gave thanks and 
said : Take and divide it among you. For I say to you that I will not 
drink of the fruit of the vine till the Kingdom of God come.' This Evan- 
gelist thus gives the twofold farewell of our Saviour to the Mosaic law, 
and puts it in its exact place right after the paschal supper. St. Matthew 
and St. Mark omit His farewell to the paschal lamb, giving only His refer- 
ence to "the fruit of the vine," the paschal cup ; and they place the words 
after their account of the Eucharistic supper. St. Luke's narrative is thus 
the fuller and more careful one, and by its union of the Saviour's reference to 
the paschal lamb with that to the paschal cup we are made certain that this 
Evangelist's account gives this utterance its proper place, which was not 
after the Eucharistic supper. The other two Evangelists gave the Mas- 
ter's reference to " the fruit of the vine " at the end of their narrative of 
the events of the evening as a sort of addendum. The words "the 
fruit of the vine " could not have referred to the Eucharistic cup. 






JESUS WASHES HIS DISCIPLES' FEET. 



611 



sometimes fond of making public exhibitions of its 
interior affection. It can do this without risk of 
vanity ; for it glories too much in the applause of its 
beloved to be moved from its loyalty by the applause 
of standers-by . Hence our Saviour's 
insistence on the public ceremony 
of washing His disciples' feet. 

We are struck with the contrast 
between the Redeemer's love and 
the traitor's baseness, as carefully 
brought out by St. John, for it is en- 
tirely certain that Judas was pre- 
sent ; he was proof against the re- 
proachful glances and the caresses, 
perhaps the whispered appeal, of the 
Master incident to the washing of 
his feet. We notice, too, the singu- 
lar aptness of the Master's quota- 
tion from the fortieth psalm, as if on 
washing the heel of Judas He had 
physically felt it spurning and kick- 
ing Him in the brutal assault at- 
tending His betrayal and arrest in 
the later hours of that same night. 

The example of humility here 
given, emphasized by St. John in 
the words, ' ' knowing that the Father 
had given Him all things into His 
hands, and that He came from God 
and goeth to God, ' ' and yet cleans the 
feet of twelve dull peasants, is one 
of the most moving in all the Gos- 
pel. It struck deep into the soul of 
Peter, whose hasty nature (soon to 
be tamed by a rude lesson) revolted 



Before the festival day of the pasch, Jesus 
knowing that his hour was come, that, he 
should pass out of this world to the Fath- 
er : having loved his own who were in the 
world, he loved them unto the end. And 
when supper was done (the devil having 
now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, 
the son of Simon, to betray him), know- 
ing that che Father had given him all 
things into his hands, and that he came 
from God, and goeth to God : he riseth 
from supper, and layeth aside his gar- 
ments, and having taken a towel, girded 
himself. After that, he putteth water into 
a basin, and began to wash the feet of 
his disciples, and to wipe them with the 
towel wherewith he was girded. He 
cometh therefore to Simon Peter. And 
Peter said to him : Lord, dost thou wash 
my feet ? Jesus answered, and said to 
him : What I do, thou knowest not now, 
but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter said 
to him : Thou shalt never wash my feet : 
Jesus answered him : If I wash thee not, 
thou shalt have no part with me. Simon 
Peter saith to him : Lord, not only my feet, 
but also my hands and my head. Jesus 
saith to him : He that is washed, needeth 
not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. 
And you are clean, but not all. For he 
knew who he was that would betray him ; 
therefore he said : You are not all clean. 
Then after he had washed their feet, and 
taken his garments, being sat down again, 
he said to them : Know you what I have 
doDe to you ? You call me Master, 
and Lord : and you say well, for so I am. 
If then I, being your Lord and Master, 
have washed your feet ; you also ought 
to wash one another's feet. For I have 
given you an example, that as I have done 
to you, so you do also. Amen, amen, I 
say to you : The servant is not greater than 
his lord : neither is the apostle greater than 
he that sent him. If you know these things, 
you shall be blessed if you do them. I 
speak not of you all : I know whom I have 
chosen : but that the scripture may be ful- 
filled, He that eateth bread with me, shall 
lift up his heel against me. 



6l2 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




4 Thou shalt never 
wash my feet." 



against such an indignity. He was rebuked : " If I 
wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with Me." The 
discipleship is conferred by Christ, not assumed by 
Peter ; and it is given by the ritual of Christ's amazing 
humility. The Master of life and death, of earth and 
heaven, lays off His dignity as one lays off his garments; 
He takes on the lowliness of humanity as He girds Him- 
self with an apron like a waiter serving at table ; He as- 
sumes the lowliest offices of brotherly love. It is thus 
that discipleship is conferred in the Christian religion, 
for the rule and. spirit of the humility of Jesus is made 
perpetual. " I have given you an example, that as I 
have done to you, so you do also. Amen, Amen, I say 
to you, the servant is not greater than his lord, neither 
is the Apostle greater than he that sent him."* 

The concluding words of Jesus, as given in St. 
John, nineteenth and twentieth verses, are instructive : 
' ' At present I tell you before it [the betrayal] come 
to pass, that when it shall come to pass you may 
believe that I am He." The prophet here speaks, 
and reveals the purpose of His prophecy — the comfort 
of His disciples in the awful trial now near at hand. 
But what did He mean by adding the succeeding 
words of mission ? Perhaps they were to renew the 
Apostles' sense of their relation to Him as His author- 
ized messengers, rudely shaken by His revelation of 
the treason of Judas. "Amen, amen, I say to you, 
he that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth Me; 
and he that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me." 



*The incident of the washing of the disciples' feet, the manner of its 
narration, and the injunction of its apparently literal imitation as one of the 
ceremonies of Christ's religion, has caused some of the Protestant sects to 
perpetuate it as a sort of sacrament. This should be a warning against un- 
authorized interpretation of Scripture. No sacrament was instituted by 
Jesus in this function, nor any obligation imposed for its continuance, as 
is proved by Apostolic tradition. 



"IS IT I, LORD?" 613 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

" IS IT I, LORD?" 

Matt. xxvi. 21-25 ; Mark xiv. 18-21 ; Luke xxii. 21-23; 
John xiii. 21—32. 

Nkxt followed the exciting scene of the accusa- 
tion of treason. Jesus threw it out among the Apos- 
tles for the purpose of saving Judas, even though it 
tortured the sensibilities of His eleven loyal followers. 
It was a reprimand administered publicly, yet capable 
of being taken only privately, for He never allowed 
them to know whom He meant. The outward calm- 
ness of the Redeemer was in vivid contrast with the 
excitement of the Apostles, for His trouble was "in 
spirit," far beneath the surface which remained un- 
ruffled. "When Jesus had said these things He was 
troubled in spirit, and whilst they were eating He 
said : Amen, I say to you, that one of you is about 
to betray Me." Instantly there fell utter silence; 
quick looks of suspicion, of inquiry, of chagrin at 
the bare thought of the great crime. "The disciples 
therefore looked one upon another, doubting of whom 
He spoke; and they being very 
much troubled, began every one to 
say: Is it I, Lord? " 

Now, there was deep consolation 
to our L,ord in this demand, for, al- 
though its form in the original 
Greek implies denial, yet it was a 
sign of humility. They were ready, 
each and all, to believe themselves 
open to temptation ; they might mis- 
trust even their long-tried love for 
Him ; the patient Master who had 



When Jesus had said these things, he was 
troubled in spirit : and he testified, and 
said : Amen, amen, I say to you, one of 
you shall betray me. The disciples there- 
fore looked one upon another, doubting of 
whom he spoke. Now there was leaning 
on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples whom 
Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beck- 
oned to him, and said to him : Who is it 
of whom he speaketh ? He therefore lean- 
ing on the breast of Jesus saith to him : 
Lord, who is it ? Jesus answered : He it is 
to whom I shall reach bread dipped. And 
when he had dipped the bread, he gave it 
to Judas Iscariot, the sjh of Simon. And 
after the morsel, Satan entered into him. 
And Jesus said to him : That which thou 
dost, do quickly. 



6i4 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

said: " L,earn of Me that I am meek and humble 
of heart," had not taught in vain. But yet His an- 
swer was baffling. He immediately showed that His 
aim was to admonish all the innocent for the sake 
of the one who alone was guilty. " Behold the hand 
of him that betrayeth Me, is with Me on the table 
— one of the twelve who dippeth with Me his hand 
in the dish, he shall betray Me." All were at table 
with Him, all were dipping in the dish with Him, 
all were warned and no one specially pointed out. 
But the words that follow are like the voice of 
doomsday. "The Son of Man indeed goeth, as it 
is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the 
Son of Man shall be betrayed ; it were better for 
him, if that man had not been born." 

This showed what He meant by the word betrayal ; 
it was not any ordinary disloyalty, but the deliberate 
handing over of Jesus to His enemies to be slain. 
Judas may have been stupefied by the accusation, 
by the glance of his Master's eye, the clamor of his 
conscience within and that of his brethren without. 
But now he found words and an opportunity to ask, 
" Is it I, Rabbi?" It was done secretly, and it was 
lost cO the eleven in their own confused talk over 
the cerrible words Jesus had spoken. Nor did they 
catch the whispered words of the answer : ' ' He saith 
to him, Thou hast said it." 

But Peter, always forward and persistent, would 
not rest content with his Master's answer to their 
general inquiry. Leaning over towards John, whom 
Jesus had placed beside Him and whose head He had 
drawn to His bosom, He undertook through him to 
learn who the traitor was. " Now there was leaning 
on Jesus' bosom, one of His disciples whom Jesus 
loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him and 



IS IT I. LORD?" 



6,5 



said to him : Who is it of whom He speaketh ? 
He therefore, leaning on the breast of Jesus, saith 
to Him : Lord, who is it ? Jesus answered : He it 
is to whom I shall reach bread dipped. And when 
He had dipped the bread He gave it to Judas Is- 
cariot, the son of Simon." It would seem from 
this that Peter and John learned the exact truth 
about Judas — that at least John did. Yet what fol- 
lows indicates that the amazement and confusion 
of mind which reigned among them all hindered 
the two Apostles from understanding their Master 
fully. 

But Judas was now aroused to the need of im- 
mediate betrayal ; his purpose was known and was 
revealed. " And after the morsel Satan entered into 
him." His final resolve was taken, his new master, 
the Evil One, assumed control. The Redeemer read 
him through and through, and as if to echo the be- 
trayer's thoughts He said to him : " That which thou 
dost do quickly. Now no man at the table knew to 
what purpose He said this unto him. For some 
thought, because Judas had the purse, that Jesus 
had said to him, Buy those things which we have 
need of for the festival day, or that he should give 
something to the poor. He therefore having received 
the morsel, went out immediately. And it was 
night." This looks as if the final words of Jesus to 
the traitor were spoken aloud after a whispered col- 
loquy in which a last appeal to the unhappy wretch 
was made and rejected. Jesus had managed to shield 
him from the fury of his brethren, had dealt with 
him alone in striving to turn him from his fell pur- 
pose, and yet He had spoken to them all of this dread- 
ful blood-guiltiness. He had used the crime of one 
to increase the humility of all the others. 




Satan entered into 
him." 



616 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Judas hurried away into the darkness of that fate- 
ful night, whose threatening forms and accusing voices 
were to haunt him for ever. 

He was not present at the institution of the 
Eucharist ; at least such seems the most satisfactory 
adjustment of the various accounts of the four Evan- 
gelists, though many great names are affixed to the 
contrary opinion. The question will never be finally 
settled. But the traitor went away, according to St. 
John, after receiving " the morsel," which certainly 
was not the Holy Communion. Place this account 
given by St. John between the twenty-fifth and 
twenty-sixth verses of St. Matthew's narrative in his 
twenty-sixth chapter, and the chronology of these 
two Apostles, who were eye-witnesses, is perfectly 
harmonized, and is a better guide than that of St. 
Luke, whose statement of the entire incident of Jesus 
reproaching Judas is extremely brief. 

And this accords with the words of Jesus spoken 
immediately after the traitor's departure. " When 
therefore he was gone out, Jesus said : Now is the 
Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him ; 
God also will glorify Him in Himself; and immediate- 
ly will He glorify Him." For what was the glory 
of Jesus but His sacrifice for our salvation upon the 
altar of the cross, a triumph which every step of 
Judas brought nearer to its fulfilment ? And what 
is the perennial glory of Jesus but the perpetuation of 
His death and resurrection upon the Calvary of our 
altars, which He was about to establish by the in- 
stitution of the Eucharist ? 



THE LAST DISCOURSE. 617 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

THK BEGINNING OF THE LAST DISCOURSK. — THE 
DENIAL OF PETER FORETOLD. — STRIFE FOR PRE- 
EMINENCE. 

Luke xxii. 24-30 ; John xiii. 33-38. 

St. John, in his account of our Saviour's last night 
with His disciples, omits the institution of the Holy 
Communion, because it is related by the three other 
Evangelists, and, as he must certainly have known, 
very fully described by St. Paul (I. Cor. xi.) 
Furthermore, he had himself in his sixth chapter 
given the Redeemer's prophecy of it containing His 
solemn definition of the dogma of the Real Presence. 
St. John is very full, however, in his account of 
our Saviour's last discourse and the conversations 
with the Apostles scattered through it. This opens 
with the last eight verses of his thirteenth chapter 
and occupies him through the three that follow it ; 
finally he devotes the seventeenth chapter to the 
prayer of Jesus. This whole section of St. John's 
Gospel, embracing more than four chapters, is a rich 
treasury of heavenly teaching, and the prayer of 
Jesus is the most powerful plea to the Father for 
brotherly love and divine unity among men that He 
ever uttered. That part of St. Euke's twenty-second 
chapter between the twenty-fourth and thirty-eighth 
verses, is placed conjecturally near the opening of 
our Lord's discourse. 

An interesting question never settled, and never 
likely to be, is, what relation in point of time has all 
this discoursing to the institution of the Eucharist? 
Was it all done beforehand ? Evidently not, for at 
one point our Eord says, "Arise, let us go hence." 



618 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Did it all follow the Eucharist? Some commentators 
say yes and others no. These last place the insti- 
tution of the Holy Communion immediately after the 
departure indicated by the words, " Let us go hence," 
which meant, they surmise, only adjourning to an- 
other room prepared expressly for the Eucharistic 
Supper. But many suppose that the Eucharist was 
instituted immediately after the celebration of the 
Jewish Passover, and that the discourse followed : 
part of it given on the spot and the remainder on the 
way to Mount Olivet, or after arriving there. But 
it is, in our opinion, quite probable that the first part, 
that preceding "Arise, let us go hence," was pre- 
liminary to the Eucharistic Supper, and with this 
portion of it we join the verses from St. Luke above 
referred to. 

After our Saviour had said — as if communing 
with Himself or speaking to His Father — "God will 
also glorify [the Son of Man] in Himself; and im- 
mediately will He glorify Him," He turned most 
affectionately to His Apostles. " little children," He 
exclaimed, "yet a little while I am with you. You 
shall seek Me, and as I said to the Jews, Whither I 
go, you cannot come: so I say to you now." This 
sounded plaintively to the disciples : it was like a 
father's last address to his children, a death-bed ad- 
monition. The substance of the message followed : 
" A new commandment I give unto you, that you love 
one another ; as I have loved you, that you also love 
one another." Here, then, is The Law. Love has 
entered the hall of divine legislation and has abolished 
all other law, repealed it all and enacted itself as the 
one precept, the new law, of the new Kingdom. And 
what love ? Brotherly love. And in what measure ? 
The King's measure, Jesus Christ's measure. He 



THE DENIAL OF PETER FORETOLD. 



619 



loves us as His Father loves Him ; 
He loves us as He loves His own 
life ; and more, for He gave more 
than His life for His beloved; He 
gave His peace of mind, His fair 
fame, His kingship over His own 
people ; He gave everything. And 
it is after this pattern that He would 
have us love our fellow-men. He 
insists on this with a lover's im- 
patience. He selects it as the pub- 
lic and private test of discipleship, 
superior to faith, to obedience, or 
to martyrdom. " By this shall all 
men know that you are My disci- 
ples, if you have love one for an- 
other." 

But Peter had been offended by 
his Master's saying, "Whither I 
go you cannot come," and he now 
reverted to it : " Simon Peter saith 
to Him : Lord, whither goest 
Thou ? ' ' Jesus insisted : ' ' Whither I go thou canst 
not follow Me now, but thou shalt follow hereafter. 
Peter saith to Him : Why cannot I follow Thee now ? 
I will lay down my life for Thee." It was thus 
that Peter brought on himself the prophecy of his 
fall. The Redeemer, as if under provocation, ex- 
posed the boaster's weakness. He did it very point- 
edly, repeating, and almost derisively, the vaunt 
of His follower that he would be true unto death. 
' ' Jesus answered him : Wilt thou lay down thy life 
for Me? Amen, amen, I say to thee, the cock shall 
not crow till thou deny Me thrice." 

Nor was our Saviour contented with the rest of 



If I speak with the tongues of men, and 
of angels, and have not charity, I am be- 
come as sounding brass or a tinkling cym- 
bal. And if I should have prophecy, and 
should know all mysteries, and all knowl- 
edge, and if I should have all faith, so that 
I could remove mountains and have not 
charity, I am nothing. And if I should 
distribute all my goods to feed the poor, 
and if I should deliver my body to be 
burned, and have not charity, it profiteth 
me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind : 
charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely : 
is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeketh 
not her own, is not provoked to anger, 
thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, 
but rejoiceth with the truth : beareth all 
things, believeth all things, hopeth all 
things, endureth all things. Charity never 
falleth away : whether prophecies shall be 
made void, or tongues shall cease, or 
knowledge shall be destroyed. For we 
know in part, and we prophesy in part. 
But when that which is perfect is come, 
that which is in part shall be done away. 
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I 
understood as a child, I thought as a child. 
But when I became a man, I put away the 
things of a child We see now through a 
glass in a dark manner : but then face to 
face. Now I know in part : but then I 
shall know even as I am known. And 
now there remain, faith, hope, charity, 
these three : but the greater of these is 
charity. 



620 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

His Apostles. They were, in fact, no better than a 
set of raw recruits, indicating, as far as their natural 
gifts went, little of that wondrous heroism which fol- 
lowed their receiving of the Holy Spirit. They seem 
to have been continually arguing about precedence, 
and often very hotly, so that the word strife describes 
their attitude. Even now, while yet fresh from the les- 
sons of the feet- washing, they struggled for supremacy. 
Therefore their Master set before them the spirit of 
the Gentile world and taught them how to reverse 
its maxims : ' ' And there also arose a strife amongst 
them, which of them should seem to be greater; and 
He said to them : The kings of the Gentiles lord it 
over them, and they that have power over them are 
called beneficent. But you not so, but he that is 
the greater among you, let him be as the least, and 
he that is the leader as he that serveth." Let us 
appreciate the motive which our Lord assigns for this 
humility: none other than His own example. He 
does not offer other argument than His own self. 
As if to say, You take Me for teacher, then do as 
I do by mere faith in Me ; after that look for other 
reasons, which at best must be inferior ones to 
the all-sufficient reasonableness of patterning on 
Me. "For which is greater, he that sitteth at ta- 
ble or he that serveth ? Is not he that sitteth at 
table? But I am in the midst of you as he that 
serveth." 

And yet He was mindful of their high office, nor 
would He wound their susceptibilities without mercy. 
"And you are they," He added, "who have con- 
tinued with- Me in My temptations, and I appoint 
to you, as My Father hath appointed to Me, a king- 
dom, that you may eat and drink at My table in My 
kingdom, and may sit upon thrones, judging the 



"/ HA VE PRA YED FOR THEE." 621 

twelve tribes of Israel." The obvious lesson is that 
however assured shall be the lofty place of the Apos- 
tles, it is but a shadow of the Redeemer's own, and 
if they share His place of honor, they must gladly 
share His spirit and practice of humility. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE LAST DISCOURSE CONTINUED : ' ' I HAVE PRAYED 
FOR THEE." — SECOND PREDICTION OP PETER'S 
DENIAL. — THE INCIDENT OF THE TWO SWORDS. 

Luke xxii. 31-38. 

Having enforced humility upon the whole body 
of the Apostles, Jesus turned to their leader and gave 
him a special lesson. First He set him off from the 
others, and announced emphatically his final secur- 
ity from Satan's plots, as He had before made him 
the bulwark against the incursions of the vices and 
lies that swarm out of the gates of hell : the confirma- 
tion of his brethren shall be his 
office. Yet he is to pass through 
a dark valley of degradation for 
the annihilation of all self-love. 
This cure of Peter's pride shall 
come from the remorse and bitter 
weeping following his denial of his 
Master, which Jesus foretells for 



And the Lord said : Simon, Simon, be- 
hold Satan hath desired to have you, that 
he may sift you as wheat, but I have pray- 
ed for thee, that thy faith fail not ; and thou 
being once converted, confirm thy brethren. 
Who said to him : Lord, I am ready to go 
with thee both into prison and to death. 
And he said : I say to thee, Peter, the cock 
shall not crow this day till thou thrice de- 
niest that thou knowest me. 



the second time, led thereto by a repetition of the 
Apostle's boast of fidelity. 

What follows, in St. L,uke's narrative, is the Re- 
deemer's mysterious reference to the use of the sword 
for some sort of defence. He prefaces it thus: "And 



622 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

He said to them : When I sent you without purse 
and scrip and shoes, did you want for anything ? 
But they said: Nothing." This, it would seem, was 
the rule of life for the actual preaching the King- 
dom of God. But another condition is at hand. He 
is to be apprehended as a criminal and taken away 
from them. The kingdom shall for a brief time be 
suspended and the King shall be swept off by His 
enemies. And what about the disciples meantime ? 
We shall see further on that He will send them into 
hiding with orders to go back to Galilee. They 
must be disguised, they must suffer a sort of reversion 
into the common state of pilgrims sojourning at Jeru- 
salem and returning to their homes. They must be 
provided with money ; each must be ready with his 
own purse in case they should be scattered. They 
must carry weapons of defence from the robbers who 
infested the roads of Palestine. " Then said He unto 
them: But now he that hath a purse let him take 
it, and likewise a scrip ; and he that hath not, let 
him sell his coat, and buy a sword. For I say to 
you, that this that is written must yet be fulfilled 
in Me : And with the wicked was He reckoned. For 
the things concerning Me have an end. But they 
said : Lord, behold here are two swords. And He 
said to them: It is enough." 

How sadly they must have recalled the peaceful 
days of their preaching with Jesus, their working of 
miracles in His name, every want joyfully supplied 
by the grateful people. Now all is to be changed. 
They are to be hunted like wolves, to fly from place 
to place, hardly getting the bare necessities of life even 
by paying for them, and obliged to fall back for a 
time on the natural right of self-defence. Such was 
the drift of His warning. But as usual they did not 



"/ AM THE WA Y, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIGHT." 623 

fully understand Him, and He quickly resumed His 
discourse, interrupted by His admonition to Peter and 
the incident of the swords.* 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE LAST DISCOURSE CONTINUED : "iAM THE WAY, 
THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE." 

John xiv. 1-15. 

As we go onward with the Master this discourse 
rises higher than even the Sermon on the Mount. It 
elevates the precepts of brotherly love therein given 
into the inner life of God. The maxims of human 
brotherhood are wholly divinized. Joy and peace are 
the emotions, trustfulness and faith and love the 
virtues, our Lord's divinity and His relation to the 
Father and the Spirit the dogmas of this most sub- 
lime Sermon, uttered by the Redeemer as He stood 
on the first ascent of the Mountain of God. 

As the heavenly promises dropped from the Mas- 
ter's lips, Thomas, the Doubter, 
gave Him occasion for plainer expo- 
sition. ''And whither I go you 
know, and the way you know, ' ' said 
Jesus. He was going to His Father 
in Heaven through the terrible way 



Let not your heart be troubled. You be- 
lieve in God, believe also in me. In my 
Father's house there are many mansions. 
If not, I would have told you, that I go to 
prepare a place for you. And if I shall go, 
and prepare a place for you : I will come 
again, and will take you to myself, that 
where I am, you also may be. 



of the Cross ; they ought to have known it by this 
time, surely. But it was not so. "Thomas saith to 
Him : Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and 

* Another interpretation of the expressions, "Here are two swords — 
it is enough," is that they meant this as an inventory of their armory 
wherewith to fight the Jews. Simple men ! to dream of fighting the 
power of the high-priests backed by the legions of Rome with an army of a 
dozen peasants armed with two swords. According to this opinion our 
Saviour answered ironically, " It is enough." Or perhaps His answer " It 
is enough " meant words enough about that matter. 



624 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

how can we know the way ? ' ' Instead of answer- 
ing by again affirming the Cross as the road to the 
crown, He bent kindly to their feeble comprehen- 
sion ; assuring them that faith in Him and love of 
Him was the gate to heaven and the key of that 
gate. " Jesus saith to him: I am the way and the 
truth and the life. No man cometh to the Father 
but by Me. If you had known Me, you would with- 
out doubt have known My Father also, and from 
henceforth you shall know Him, and you have seen 
Him." 

This was a most puzzling statement of the relation 
of Jesus to God — the Jehovah of the Jews — and 
Philip stumbled upon a question 



& S ntVis hl ^u^ r sh r Vs*l whose answer is one of the plainest 



Father 



saith to him: So long a time have I been f our ford's teachings, that He is 
with you : and have you not known me ? . 

the very same God with the eternal 



Philip, he that seeth me, seeth the Father 
also. How sayest thou, shew us the Fath- 
er ? Do you not believe that I am in the 
Father, and the Father in me ? The words 
that I speak to you, I speak not of myself. 
But the Father who abideth in me, he doth 
the works. Believe you not that I am in 
the Father, and the Father in me ? Other- 



Father. First He adverts to His 
teaching : His words are so stamped 
with power that they make the mind 
ready for a high claim ; and second, 

wise believe for the very works' sake. J ^ ^^ q{ ^^ ^ ^^ Qf 

one who is L,ord and Master of all things, especially 
master of the secret of His own identity. The Wonder- 
worker of the ages is the Truth-teller of the ages, 
and herein He makes Himself one with God the 
Father. ' ' I am in the Father and the Father is in 
Me." 

Jesus then proceeds to explain the Apostles' share 
in His mission from the Father. It is the perpetua- 
tion in His Church of a miraculous faith. The Church 
takes His place on earth as wonder-worker after He 
goes to His Father, increasing in volume and efficacy 
the evidences of His divinity by the teaching of all 
truth and the working of all miracles. " Amen, amen, 



JESUS DISCOURSES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 625 

I say to you, he that believeth in Me, the works 
that I do, He also shall do, and greater than these 
shall he do, because I go to the Father." Jesus 
then adds the gift of prayer, again making Himself 
the equal of the Father in His statement of the motive 
for the efficacy of prayer. " And whatsoever you shall 
ask the Father in My name, that will I do, that the 
Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask 
Me anything in My name, that will I do." Finally, 
as if to settle them down to a plain precept, yet an 
all-embracing one, He says, "If you love Me, keep 
My commandments." If they were mystified by His 
loftier teachings, here was something homely and on 
a level with their understanding. Love and obedience 
are the two sole requisites for the highest aspirations ; 
the first is the substance of the spiritual life, and the 
other the test of our possessing it. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE LAST DISCOURSE CONTINUED : JESUS DISCOURSES 
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. — HOW THE FATHER AND 
THE SON AND THE SPIRIT DWELL IN THE CHURCH 
AND IN THE SOUL OF EACH CHRISTIAN. 

John xiv. 16-ji. 

Possessing obedience and love, the soul of man 
possesses God. And Jesus now teaches very explicitly 
how God is our Father. It is because His Son, who 
lives by the Father, lives in us by the Father's love, 
which is God the Spirit. Thus Jesus, who is the 
Divine Word, mediates through the Divine Spirit be- 
tween man and the Heavenly Father, and in that 
manner effectuates the filiation of the soul with God. 
On this particular occasion the Apostles are especially 



626 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



And I will ask the Father, and he shall 
£i\e you another Paraclete, that he may 
abide with you for ever. The Spirit of 
truth whom the world cannot receive, be- 
cause it seeth him not, nor knoweth him : 
but you shall know him ; because he shall 
abide with you, and shall be in you. I will 
not leave you orphans : I will come to you. 
Yet a little while : and the world seeth me 
no more. But you see me : because I live, 
ana you shall live. In that day you shall 
know that I am in my Father, and you in 
me, and I in you. He that hath my com- 
mandments, and keepeth them : he it is 
that loveth me. And he that loveth me, 
shall be loved of my Father : and I will 
love him, and will manifest myself to him. 



meant as the recipients of God the 
Holy Ghost, obtained by their Ad- 
vocate, Jesus the Son of God. The 
Divine Spirit is to comfort them with 
the assurance of the certain truth 
generating the Church's faith, as 
well as investing them and their 
successors with the gift of unerring 
teaching authority. 

This is high doctrine. But the 
last words of their Master were near- 
er the comprehension of the dis- 
ciples : ' ' He that loveth Me shall be loved by My 
Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself 
to Him." This gives to each believer a personal 
share of the treasure of divine influence promised to 
the Church. The Apostle St. Jude asked for instruc- 
tion about the method or process of Christ's union 
with them. "Judas saith to him, not the Iscariot : 
Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself to 
us, and not to the world ? ' ' 

The answer of Jesus is most instructive. The first 
condition for obtaining the indwelling Divinity is 
simply love. The method of loving is to love, the 
process of loving is to love : in other words, we begin 
to have God as our soul's Father and Brother and 
Spouse by the inspiration of love from on high. This 
inner love works outwardly and inwardly by obedi- 
ence, the keeping of our Saviour's law — " he will keep 
My word." To the outward brotherhood, as well 
as to the inward conscience, this obedience is the 
test of our possessing the divine love ; it is like- 
wise the first- fruit of love. But the imparting of this 
life of love is not a wholly spiritual act ; it is both 
spiritual and external ; it is visible and invisible ; 



JESUS DISCOURSES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 627 

according, in this respect, with a previous teach- 
ing : a As I live by the Father, so he that eateth 
Me, the same also shall live by Me." Hence the an- 
swer to St. Jude affirms good works, obedience to God's 
law, as both the criterion and the fruit of love, and 
shows the united action of the Son and the Father upon 
the soul of man. ''Jesus answered and said to him: 
If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My 
Father will love him, and We will come to him, and 
will make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me 
not keepeth not My words. And the word which you 
have heard is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me." 

But a further question He answered without their 
asking it : What is to take the place of His visible 
presence after His departure ? How shall His teach- 
ing be maintained as a living voice, exerting all its 
present spell upon their hearts? The answer is the 
constant presence of God the Holy Ghost in the Church, 
constantly teaching and guiding men both as indivi- 
duals and as nations. "These things have I spoken 
to you, abiding with you. But the Paraclete, the 
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, 
He will teach you all things, and bring all things to 
your mind whatsoever I shall have said to you." 

Then our Saviour gave the Apostles some very 
comforting words in view of His departure from them : 
11 My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto 
you ; not as the world giveth do I give unto you. 
Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. 
You have heard that I said to you : I go away, and 
I come unto you. If you loved Me, you would be 
glad because I go to the Father ; for the Father is 
greater than I." This He said as man, and as in- 
dicating the blissful lot of His human soul in the 
bosom of God the Father. 



628 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

He then renewed His farewell, giving it the form 
of a prophec}^ : ' ' And now I have told you before it 
come to pass, that when it shall come to pass, you 
may believe. I will not now speak many things with 
3^ou. For the prince of this world cometh, and in Me 
he hath. not anything. But that the world may know 
that I love the Father, and as the Father hath given 
Me commandment, so do I. Arise, let us go hence." 

It is plain that He means by "the world" that 
unregeuerate mass of mankind everywhere surrounding 
the faithful children of God, as well as the smaller 
number of men and women of earthly ends and purposes 
scattered among the faithful themselves in all ages, 
very often more powerful than they. These are called 
"the world," and "the worldly," and "the worldly- 
minded," because they make the life in this world 
the chief end of their striving. They live for men's 
approval rather than for God's, for the present and 
visible joys of life rather than for those that are future 
and invisible. Upon these the heart of Jesus is bent, 
indeed, for their salvation; but against their influence 
and their maxims He incessantly sets His own in- 
fluence and the maxims of His Gospel, which dis- 
tinctly prefer the invisible and future and eternal 
good to the present and fleeting good of this world. 

In this discourse the soul of Jesus reaches upwards 
and brings down to His Apostles a doctrine above any 
hitherto imparted. It is the doctrine of union with 
God — He is expounding the Way, the Truth, and the 
L,ife of oneness with the Deity. Intimate, indwelling 
union, is the boon He offers. The doctrine which ex- 
presses it is the Unity and Trinity of God. God the 
Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, one God, 
made known to us by this wisdom as God our Father, 
God our Brother, God the Spouse of our souls. 



JESUS DISCOURSES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 629 

Another treasure in this discourse is the doctrine 
of the Holy Ghost. Jesus teaches that He is dis- 
tinct from the Father and the Son, since the Son is 
to ask for Him and the Father is to send Him ; He 
is personal God because He is to be master and 
teacher in Jesus* stead. He is the power of God 
in the souls of men, as Jesus was the power of God 
in the visible lives of men. That Jesus and the Holy 
Ghost are of one substance with each other and the 
Father, and also that each of the Three is of dis- 
tinct personality, is the plain doctrine herein affirmed. 

Finally the interior life is placed first and highest 
among the relations between God and man. The privi- 
lege of intimately knowing and consciously enjoying 
Jesus and His Eternal Father is granted not only to 
the Apostles, but to the souls of all regenerate men 
— to all whom the Father and Son shall love ; and 
this divine privilege, this heavenly "partaking of the 
divine nature," is brought into actuality by the com- 
ing of the Holy Ghost, and maintained by his indwell- 
ing. He is the unifying principle of the Godhead, as 
the Son is the filiating principle, and the Father the 
originating principle. 




^rjr 



630 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 

/. Cor. xi. 23—30 ; Matt. xxvi. 26—28; Mark xiv. 22—24; 
Luke xxii. 10-20. 

WE have already considered the question whether 
our Lord's extended discourse at the Last Supper 
was all delivered before the institution of the Eucharist 
or all after it ; or was given in part as a preparation 
for the supper, and afterwards resumed and finished. 
We follow the opinion of those who divide the dis- 
course, placing the first section — that treated of in the 
preceding chapters — as introductory to the great Sac- 
rament of the New Law. The sentence, " Arise, let 
us go hence," according to this view, is not taken as 
the signal of departure to the Mount of Olives, but 
rather to mark a removal to another room arranged for 
the institution of the Blessed Sacrament. It seems 
to us highly probable that some 
portion of our Saviour's discourse, 
so redolent of love, was given as a 
preliminary to the institution of this 
His sacrament of love. 

The bread used in the institution 
of the Eucharist was the unleaven- 
ed bread of the Passover supper. 
The Latin Church always uses the 
same kind at Mass, both in order 
to be more exact in the imitation 
of our Lord's first Mass, and to 
typify the absence of the leaven of 
sin from our hearts at the heavenly 
banquet. The breaking of the 
bread was, we are led to think, made 



For I have received of the Lord that 
which also I delivered unto you, that the 
Lord Jesus, the same night in which he 
was betrayed, took bread, and giving 
thanks, broke, and said : '1 ake ye and eat : 
this is my body which shall be delivered for 
you : this do for the commemoration of 
me. In like manner also the chalice, after 
he had supped, saying : This chalice is the 
new testament in my blood : this do ye, as 
often as you shall drink, for the commemo- 
ration of me. For as often as you shall 
eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you 
shall shew the death of the Lord, until he 
come. Therefore whosoever shall eat this 
bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord un- 
worthily, shall be guilty of the body and of 
the blood of the Lord. But let a man 
prove himself : and so let him eat of that 
bread, and drink of the chalice. For he 
that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth 
and drinketh judgment to himself, not dis- 
cerning the body of the Lord. Therefore 
are there many infirm and weak among you, 
and many sleep. 



THE HOL Y EUCHA RIS T. 631 

easy by the loaf being partially divided beforehand. 
The consecration probably took place after the Re- 
deemer had thus carefully prepared for an act so solemn 
and so touching, perpetuating to the end of time His 
true presence and His loving remembrance everywhere 
among the children of men. 

The words changing the bread and wine into the 
Lord's body are explicit: "This is My body," "This 
is My blood." For fifteen hundred years Christen- 
dom held universally to the literal meaning and to the 
miraculous change which these words proclaim; up 
to the Reformation only two feeble attempts were 
made at denial of the Real Presence, one in the ninth 
and the other in the eleventh century, and both were 
instantly and unanimously rejected and condemned by 
the Church, her people and her ministry. A year be- 
fore the institution the Redeemer had promised His 
real flesh and blood for a mystical banquet, and had 
insisted sternly on acceptance of the literal mean- 
ing of His words. The promise is now fulfilled. The 
substance of the bread and wine is separated from 
their outward forms, and these forms are assumed by 
the substance of the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. 
A change of substance, transubstantiation, has taken 
place behind the veils of the external appearances of 
bread and wine. Otherwise, Christ, alike in St. John's 
account of His promise of the Eucharist and in this 
fourfold account of St. Matthew, St. Luke, St. Mark, 
and St. Paul of the fulfilment of the promise, has 
hopelessly deluded and bewildered His entire Church, 
including the Apostles themselves ; which is beyond 
all possibility of belief. 

This most solemn event was the perfecting of the 
design of God in the Incarnation. It extends the 
divine union of Creator and creature to each individual 



632 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




" This chalice is the new 
testament in My blood." 



disciple of Christ unto the end of time. As the God- 
head joined our human nature, as nature, and as 
represented by that of the Man-Christ, so now does 
the God-Man join every one of us to Himself and to 
each other in this banquet of union and communion. 
Accordingly St. Paul teaches (I. Cor. x. 16, 
17) : " The chalice of benediction which we 
bless, is it not the communion of the blood 
of Christ ? And the bread which we break, 
is it not the partaking of the body of the 
Lord ? For we, being many, are one bread, one 
body, all that partake of one bread." 

Upon the Redeemer's words, " Do this in com- 
memoration of Me," is placed the institution of 
the Mass as a sacrifice. There is a commemo- 
rative as well as an actual identity of the per- 
petual Kucharistic sacrifice of the Mass with that 
of Calvary. For the Eucharistic blood of Christ 
as now offered upon our altars is the same that 
was offered up on Calvary, being in both cases 
" shed for you, and for many, for the remission 
of sins." Jesus as commemorated in Holy Mass 
and Communion is the same Lamb of God who 
takes away the sins of the world by His sacrifice 
on the Cross. Hence St. Paul: "As often as 
you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you 
shall shew the death of the Lord, until He come." 
Therefore, the command, "Do this in commemoration 
of Me," makes the Apostles priests — that is to say, 
sacrificial ministers of Christ's new law, ordained to 
offer Christ in the Kucharistic sacrifice which is the 
perpetual renewal of that of Calvary. The offerer is 
the same High- Priest represented by His apostolic 
priesthood, the Victim is the same, the purpose the 
same, the efficacy the same. The differences between 



UNION WITH JESUS AND SPIRITUAL LIFE. 633 

Calvary and our daily Mass are not essential — lapse of 
time, separation of place, and the present unbloody 
consummation of the act of sacrifice. None of these 
differences affect the real act and its eternal pur- 
pose, for time is naught to the Deity, nor is it aught 
to His immortal children, nor is separation of place a 
hindrance to divine love and power, nor is the Christ 
of to-day, who dies no more, any less a Redeemer 
than He who once for all was slain upon the altar 
of the Cross. 

Here then is the essence of Christ's religion : The 
perpetuation of Himself both physically and spiritually 
into every moment of time, the localization of Him- 
self into every place, changing the entire world into 
a holy of holies, the personalization of Himself into 
every human being, enabling each one to live with 
Him in a union like that whereby He lives one life 
with the Father. Truly the Eucharist has made a re- 
ligion of divine wonders. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

JESUS RESUMES HIS DISCOURSE : UNION WITH HIM IS 
THE CONDITION OP ALL SPIRITUAL LIFE. — THE 
IDENTITY OP JOY AND LOVE AND OBEDIENCE. — 
"LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU." 
— THE WITNESS OP THE SPIRIT. 
John xv. T-27. 
In various places of the Old Testament God called 
the people of Israel His vine. He had planted the 
race and fenced it about as a gardener plants the nur- 
sery of a vineyard, for it was God's purpose that 
Israel should finally overspread the earth with divine 
fruitfulness. Jesus now proclaims the fulfilment of 
this in Sii own person, teaching thereby thg abso* 



634 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



lute need of mental and moral union with Him by- 
faith and love. That union is like the oneness of a 
vine and its branches. 

As the sap in a dead branch is incapable of fruit- 
fulness, so all the life of a Christian in mortal sin 
is that of a dead member of Christ. And all the fruit- 
fulness of one who is not a Christian is that of a 
wild vine, insipid and useless. 

Jesus gives us a further exposition of His ever- 
recurring theme in this discourse — 
the qualities of Holy Love, especial- 
ly as related to joy and obedience. 
His measure of love for us is the 
same as that of the Father for His 
Son ; His standard of our obedience 
to Him is His own obedience to His 
Father's will ; His gift of joy to us is 
the fulness of His Father's gift of 
joy to Him. " As the Father hath 
loved Me, I also have loved you. 
Abide in My love. If you keep My 
commandments you shall abide in 
My love ; as I also have kept My 
Father's commandments and do abide in His love. 
These things I have spoken to you that My joy be 
in you, and your joy may be filled." 

And then He gave His Apostles, and through them 
He gives to us, a most touching explanation of His 
love ; how of His own initiative He had chosen them 
to be His friends, had made His heavenly wisdom 
their common property, His own fruitful influence 
for good their own, His power of prayer their own pre- 
rogative. As they were Jews, and therefore men of 
law, He begins and ends with the emphatic state- 
ment that all commandment is love; and as their 



I am the true vine ; and My Father is the 

usbandman. Every branch in Me, that 

beareth not fruit, He will take away : and 

every one that beareth fruit He will purge 

it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now 

you are clean by reason of the word which 

7 have spoken to you. Abide in Me : and 

I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit 

-f itself, unless it abide in the vine, so 

-either can you, unless you abide in 

Me. I am the vine ; you the branches : 

a that abideth in Me, and I in him, the 

u.rne beareth much fruit : for without Me 

vou can do nothing. If any one abide not in 

■le : he shall be cast forth as a branch, and 

hall wither, and they shall gather him up, 

„nd cast him into the fire, and he burneth. 

If you abide in Me, and My words abide 

in you, you shall ask whatever you will, 

1 and it shall be done unto you. In this is 

i My Father glorified : that you bring forth 

J very much fruit, and become My disciples 



IDENTITY OF JOY AND LOVE AND OBEDIENCE. 635 

thoughts about men were racial and narrow, He insists 
that all love of God is love of our fellow-men. 

Furthermore He anticipates their difficulty — that 
their love for men may not be reciprocated. He shows 
that the reason is ignorance of Him, their Redeemer. 
Until men know Jesus with the living knowledge 
of faith, brotherly love is impossible in the sense in 
which He teaches and practises it. Was not this 
proved by His own failure to win men's love ? It was 
from lack of knowing Him, wilful and obstinate re- 
fusal to learn Him and His teaching, that men rejected 
Him. Those who are thus unknowing and unloving 
He calls ''the world" — the multitude of men and 
women who more or less completely make this world, 
this present life, its maxims and its 
joys, the rule and aim of their ex- 
istence. "If the world hate you, 
know ye that it hath hated Me be- 
fore you. If you had been of the 
world, the world would love its own ; 
but because you are not of the 
world, but I have chosen you out 
of the world, therefore the world 
hateth you." 

Jesus thus divides the human 
race into two distinct classes, those 

who take Him and His Father's < 

kingdom as the only purpose of their lives, and those 
who take instead the riches and honors and pleasures 
of this world. ' The former have chosen Him as their 
Master, and His painful lot as their joy ; every other 
joy being absorbed in this. "Remember My word 
that I said to you : The servant is not greater than 
his master. If they have persecuted Me, they will 
persecute you. If they have kept My word, they will 



This is My commandment, that you love 
one another, as I have loved you. Great- 
er love than this no man hath, that a 
man lay down his life for his friends. You 
are My friends, if you do the things that I 
command you. I will not now call you ser- 
vants : for the servant knoweth not what 
his lord doth. But I have called you 
friends : because all things whatsoever 1 
have heard of My Father, I have made 
known to you. You have not chosen Me ; 
but I have chosen you ; and have appoint- 
ed you, that you should go, and should 
bring forth fruit, and your fruit should 
remain : that whatsoever you shall ask of 
the Father in My name, He may give it 
you. These things I command you, that 
you love one another. 



636 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

keep yours also. But all these things they will do to 
you for My name's sake, because they know not of 
Him that sent Me." 

Jesus then explains the sinfulness of the worldling : 
He knowingly rejects God and God's Son and mes- 
senger. " If I had not come and spoken to them, 
they would not have sin ; but now they have no ex- 
cuse for their sin. He that hateth Me, hateth My 
Father also. If I had not done among them the 
works that no other man hath done, they would not 
have sin ; but now they have both seen and hated, 
both Me and My Father. But that the word may be 
fulfilled which is written in their law : They hated 
Me without cause." 

1 ' But when the Paraclete cometh whom I will send 
you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who pro- 
ceedeth from the Father, He shall give testimony 
of Me. And you shall give testimony, because you 
are with Me from the beginning." 




THE LAST DISCOURSE IS CONCL UDED. 637 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



THE LAST DISCOURSE IS CONCLUDED : JESUS FORE- 
TELLS PERSECUTION. — RENEWED PROMISE OF 
THE HOLY GHOST. — SORROW SHALL BE TURNED 
INTO JOY. 

John xvi. 

Our Saviour's knowledge of the forebodings in the 
hearts of His followers once more drew from Him an 
explanation of their future sufferings ; also a palliation 
of the crimes of their persecutors. It is the same as 
He shall utter on the Cross : ' ' They know not what 
they do." ' ' These things have I spoken to you, that 

1 you may not be scandalized. They will put you out of 
the synagogues, yea, the hour cometh, that whoso- 

; ever killeth you, will think that he doth a service to 
God." Such will be the delusion of even great souls, 
like Saul of Tarsus, who will hold the garments of 
the men who shall stone St. Stephen to death. " And 
these things they will do to you, because they have 
not known the Father nor Me. But these things I 
have told you, that when the hour shall come you 
may remember that I told you of them." Every one 
of His hearers, excepting John, was destined to die 
the martyr's death and to be comforted by these words 
in his mortal agony. "But," He adds, "I told 
you not these things from the beginning, because 
I was with you." This was in answer to a thought 
in their minds of the vivid contrast between their 
early triumphs in Galilee and the present gloomy 
prospect. 

Then the Redeemer renewed His doctrine of the 
Spirit. It is that man's joy is union with God, and 
this mainly in his inner life, enjoying in the gift of 



638 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



And now I go to him that sent me, and 
none of you asketh me : Whither goest 
thou ? But because I have spoken these 
things to you, sorrow hath filled yourheart. 
But 1 tell you the truth : it is expedient to 
you that I go ; for if I go not, the Para- 
clete will not come to you ; but if I go, I 
will send him to you. And when he is 
come, he will convince the world of sin, 
and of justice, and of judgment. Of sin : 
because they believed not in me. And of 
justice : because 1 go to the Father ; and 
you shall see me no longer. And of judg- 
ment : because the prince of this world is 
already judged. I have yet many things to 
say to you : but you cannot bear them now. 
But when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, 
he will teach you all truth. For he shall 
not speak of himself : but what things so- 
ever he shall hear, he shall speak : and the 
things that are to come he shall show you. 
He shall glorify me ; because he shall re- 
ceive of mine, and shall show it to you. 
All things whatsoever the Father hath are 
mine. Therefore I said, that he shall re- 
ceive of mine, and show it to you. 



divine faith the wisdom of God, the 
affections all attracted upwards and 
satisfied in God. Jesus has given 
this inner joy to us in His own two- 
fold joy as God and Man. 

The Apostles had shared in God's 
joy in their Master's very looks ; 
they had heard it thrilling in the 
tones of His voice. But this was 
God and His Paradise unmerited, 
overwhelming and mastering them 
with resistless force. Could they be 
made worthy of it? Yes, if they 
would keep the inner touch and 
inner sight and inner sound of God 
after being deprived of the external 
aid of Jesus' bodily presence ; or at 
least with no other external aid than the mystical 
body of Christ, His Church. Hence He explains 
over again the relation of the Christian to the invisi- 
ble God, the Father, Word and Spirit : it is joy. 
Filial joy is the dominant sentiment of religion, when 
true and perfect. Jesus, meantime, could not re- 
press a rebuke — though it was a mild one — because 
they did not open their hearts and sympathize with 
Him, and ask Him of His departure, the woe of 
which filled His discourse with omens. They were, 
in fact, wholly taken up with their own impending 
loss. 

He assures them of the power of the Paraclete to 
convict men of their sins in His court of conscience. 
Since Jesus sent His Spirit to rule the human race, 
conscience has found a voice more terrible than Si- 
nai's trumpet tones. 

He has, He assures them, many things yet to 



THE LAST DISCOURSE IS CONCLUDED. 



639 



teach, and these He will impart after His resurrec- 
tion : concerning the outer Messianic kingdom, His 
Church and its treasury of graces ; concerning the 
interior kingdom of the Spirit and its ever-flowing 
springs of love and joy, of pardon and peace ; and 
concerning the end of the Jewish ceremonial law. 

Again He tells of His departure, His reappear- 
ance, and finally His ascension into heaven: "A 
little while, and you shall not see Me; and again 
a little while, and you shall see Me, because I go to 
the Father." At last they asked the questions He 
had been striving to elicit. "Then some of His dis- 
ciples said one to another : What is 
this that He saith to us : A little 
while and you shall not see Me : 
and again a little while, and you 
shall see Me ; and : Because I go to 
the Father ? They said therefore : 
What is this that He saith : A little 
while ? We know not what He 
speaketh ? " Yet He delayed giving 
them full satisfaction, but returned 
to the doctrine of Christian joy as 
the sequel of Christian suffering, 
which will end in a bliss so great 
as to do away with all forms of 
prayer except that of thanksgiving. 
Meantime He bids them wait for a 
teaching plainer than He had ever 
given them, not in parables and 
proverbs, but in direct words ; which 
indeed He fulfilled in His many in- 
terviews with them, after rising from 
the dead. But for the present one 
plain fact He had already taught 



And Jesus knew that they had a mind to 
ask him : and he said to them : Of this do 
you inquire among yourselves, because I 
said : A little while, and you shall not see 
me : and again a little while, and you shall 
see me ? Amen, amen, I say to you, that 
you shall lament and weep, but the world 
shall rejoice: and you shall be made sor- 
rowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into 
joy. A woman, when she is in labor, hath 
sorrow, because her hour is come : but when 
she hath brought forth the child, she re- 
membereth no more the anguish, for joy 
that a man is born into the world. So also 
you now indeed have sorrow, but I will see 
you again, and your heart shall rejoice ; 
and your joy no man shall take from you. 
And in that day you shall not ask me any- 
thing. Amen, amen, I say to you : If you 
ask the Father anything in my name, he 
will give it you. Hitherto you have not 
asked anything in my name. Ask, and 
you shall receive : that your joy may be 
full. These things I have spoken to you in 
proverbs. The hour cometh when 1 will 
no more speak to you in proverbs, but will 
show you plainly of the Father. In that 
day you shall ask in my name ; and I say 
not to you, that I will ask the Father for 
you : for the Father himself loveth you, 
because you have loved me, and have be- 
lieved that I came out from God. I came 
forth from the Father, and am come into 
the world : again I leave the world, and I 
go to the Father. His disciples say to him: 
Behold now thou speakest plainly, and 
speakest no proverb. 



640 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

and that He now repeats : He is about to leave the 
world and return to His Father. Also He gives His 
ever-recurring promise of the efficacy of prayer. 

Upon this the simple-minded followers of the Re- 
deemer gladly confessed His divine wisdom. "Now 
we know that Thou knowest all things, and that Thou 
needest not that any man should ask Thee. By this 
we believe that Thou earnest forth from God." The 
faith He desired them to have was indeed in their 
hearts and on their lips. But what quality of faith ? 
Very cowardly indeed. "Jesus answered them: Do 
you now believe ? Behold the hour cometh, and it is 
now come, that you shall be scattered, every man to 
his own, and shall leave Me alone; and yet I am not 
alone, because the Father is with Me." And He ends 
His discourse by renewing His grant of the gift of 
peace. "These things I have spoken to you, that in 
Me you may have peace. In the world you shall have 
distress ; but have confidence : I have overcome the 
world." How nobly has He overcome it! and how 
differently do His words sound from the famous boast 
of Caesar after one of His victories, "I came, I saw, 
I conquered"! That conquest of Caesar's was by 
shedding the blood of his enemies ; our Saviour's by 
His enemies shedding His blood, lovingly offered 
for them and for all mankind. 



JESUS PRA YS FOR HIS CHURCH, 641 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

JESUS PRAYS FOR HIS CHURCH. 

John xvii. 

Jesus ended His long discourse with a prayer for 
the Christian Church and for Catholic unity. His 
own glory, our supernatural life, and the true faith 
as the foundation on which it rests are all won for 
us by the prayer of Jesus and placed 
by Him in His Father's hands. 

The answer to that prayer will 
be the glory of the Cross. The 
glory of Christ is in dying as the 
victim of our sins and rising again 
as our leader, victorious over death 
and sin ; He teaches that the way 
of true glory for us also is in the 
Cross and its sequel of newness of 
life in the Holy Ghost. 

Jesus renders account of His mission. " I have 
manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou hast 
given Me out of the world. Thine they were and to 
Me Thou hast given them, and they have kept Thy 
word. Now they have known that all things which 
Thou hast given Me are from Thee ; because the words 
which Thou gavest Me, I have given to them, and 
they have received them, and have known in very 
deed that I came out from Thee, and they have be- 
lieved that Thou didst send Me. I pray for them; 
I pray not for the world but for them whom Thou hast 
given Me, because they are Thine, and all My things 
are Thine, and Thine are Mine, and I am glorified 
in them." 

He does not pray for the world — that is, for His 



These things Jesus spoke, and lifting up 
his eyes to heaven, he said : Father, the 
hour is come ; glorify thy Son, that thy Son 
may glorify thee. As tnou hast given him 
power over all flesh, that he may give eter- 
nal life to all whom thou hast given him. 
Now this is eternal life, that they may 
know thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ whom thou hast sent. I have glori- 
fied thee on the earth, I have finished the 
work which thou gavest me to do ; and 
now glorify thou me, O Father, with thy- 
self, with the glory which I had, before the 
world was, with thee. 




642 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

enemies, in His present outpouring to His Father ; but 
rather on this occasion He separates and distinguishes 
from all others those who, like His Apostles, are 
granted a special grace of election. Through them 
all men of good will shall have the fulness of His 
mercy and the fruit of His prayers. Meantime, He 
postpones His own personal prayer for the world and 
for His enemies till the solemn hours of His oblation 
on the Cross. 

After this He adverts to His separation from His 
Apostles, and pleads with His Father for their en- 
lightenment, their joy, their brotherly unit} 7 , and their 
security from the taint of worldliness. "And now I 
am not in the world, and these are in the world, and 
I come to Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy 
name, whom Thou hast given Me, that they may 
be one, as We also are. While I was with them, 
|jjj I kept them in Thy name. Those whom Thou 
gavest Me have I kept, and none of them is lost, 
but the son of perdition, that the Scripture may 
be fulfilled." 

Again He speaks of the world, meaning the 
mass of men who make the passing joys of this life 
the aim of every exertion. His J03 7 , which is to learn 
the will of His Father and to do it in ever} 7 loving 
act and patient suffering, is what He leaves to His 
disciples. "And now I come to Thee, and these 
things I speak in the world, that they may have 
My joy filled in themselves. I have given them Thy 
word ; and the world hath hated them, because they 
are not of the world, as I also am not of the world." 
Yet they are not to be physically separated from 
worldly-minded people, for they are to be the salt of 
the earth and the light of the world. "I pray not 
that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but 



% 



JESUS PRA YS FOR HIS CHURCH. 



643 



that thou shouldst keep them from evil. They are 
not of the world, as I also am not of the world." 
Their sanctification is in heavenly wisdom as He had 
imparted it to them. " Sanctify them in truth; Thy 
word is truth." This means an interior enlighten- 
ment and sanctification which flows into the soul in 
a manner similar to the action of the Divine Nature 
upon the human nature of Jesus. " As Thou hast 
sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into 
the world; and for them do I sanctify Myself, that 
they also may be sanctified in truth." Thus towards 
the very end He is more than ever bent on setting 
apart His followers from ' ' the world ' ' ; the unknow- 
ing world, disdaining Him and them ; the unloving 
world, hating Him and them, or at least hating His 
maxims; knowing and loving sensual joys, and greed, 
and ambition, despising lowliness, 
and generous unselfishness, and 
gentle forgiveness. 

Nothing was plainer in our Sa- 
viour's life than that He was a 
steadfast enemy of division and dis- 
sension ; and also that He founded 
but one society. He did not choose 
one set of Apostles for Galilee and 
another for Judea. He had but one 

I set of Apostles for the whole world. 

I In His day there was but one church. 

1 Why should we think that He would 

I wish it to be otherwise in our day ? 

! Our Redeemer had us in mind when 

; He prayed to His Father for the 

; unity of His Apostles and all their 

, spiritual posterity to the end of the world : ' ' And not 

I for them only do I pray, but for them also who through 



Holy Father, keep them in thy name 
whom thou hast given me, that they may 
be one as we also are. And not for them 
only do I pray, but for them also who 
through their word shall believe in me : 
That they all may be one, as thou, Father, 
in me, and I in thee : that they also may 
be one in us : that the world may believe 
that thou hast sent me. And the glory 
which thou hast given me, I have giv- 
en to them : that they may be one, as we 
also are one. I in them, and thou in me : 
that they be made perfect in one; and the 
world may know that thou hast sent me, 
and hast loved them, as thou hast also 
loved me. Father, I will that where I am, 
they also whom thou hast given me may 
be with me : that they may see my glory 
which thou hast given me, because thou 
hast loved me before the creation of the 
world. Just Father, the world hath not 
known thee : but I have known thee : and 
these have known, that thou hast sent me. 
And I have made known thy name to them, 
and will make it known ; that the love, 
wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in 
them, and I in them. 



644 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



their word shall believe in Me ; that they all may be 
one, as Thou Father in Me and I in Thee, that they 
also may be one in us." Even as a sign of His own 
mission does He set this mark of unity ; for He adds : 
" that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." 
And how perfect this unity shall be, in mind and 
in heart — that is, in belief and love — is shown by His 
insisting with His Father that His followers shall be 
joined together as the persons of the Godhead are 
joined to each other. Christians are one through 
faith, charity, and obedience, their souls made one by 
the indwelling Paraclete, as the Father and Son are 
one by the Holy Ghost proceeding from both; and 
their bodily lives are blended into one organism by the 
unity of the Church and the loving peacefulness of 
Christ in the communion of the Holy Eucharist. This 
unity is their glory, as His unity with the Father is 
His glory. 

He then concludes with a touching appeal to His 
Father to give His beloved fol- 
^i^sig^*^ if, lowers in all ages a share in His 

^^AS^Jf-M own dignity — to carry the cross 
and to conquer death and hell, 
that finally "they may see the 
glory which Thou hast given Me, 
because Thou hast loved Me be- 
fore the creation of the world." 

And so Jesus ended His prayer. 

Who can read it and fail to see 

that Jesus claimed the divine attri- 

wasagarden."butes, the divine eternity before 

the creation, that He asserted 

His divine nature in oneness with the Father? 

And who can fail to know by it the mind of Jesus 

about Christian unity in organizing His Church, since 




JESUS BEGINS HIS PASSION. 645 

He gives it the unity of God as its bond ? And how 
plain is the Church's infallible security in the true 
Christian doctrine, since her unity is that of truth, 
her sanctification is in truth, her mission into the 
world is similar to His own mission. " As Thou hast 
sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the 
world." Thus the Church of Christ by faith unites 
men's understandings into the visible unity of her 
organism ; and unites their hearts into one loving 
brotherhood through the Holy Communion of Christ's 
body and blood in the Eucharist. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

JESUS BEGINS HIS PASSION. 

Matt. xxvi. 30-38 ; Mark xiv. 26 -35 ; Luke xxii. 30-4.0 ; 
John xviii. 1. 

JESUS began His Passion at His 
usual place of prayer on the Mount 
of Olives. Having finished His last 
discourse and the invocation to the 
Father, He left the supper- room and 
led His Apostles eastward along the 
road to Bethany. " When Jesus had 
said these things, a hymn being sung, He went forth 
with His disciples, according to His custom, to the 
Mount of Olives, over the brook Cedron, where there 
was a garden." Four hundred and eighty feet from the 
gate of the city they crossed the bridge over the tor- 
rent, and a few moments afterwards reached the olive 
orchard on the hill-side. 

While on the way Jesus renewed His warnings to 
the disciples. His purpose was to strengthen them be- 
forehand against depression of spirits. He did so by 




646 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

telling them that He would rise again and lead them 
back to their native province to finish His instruc- 
tions. "And Jesus saith to them: You will all be 
scandalized in My regard this night. For it is written : 
I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep shall be 
dispersed. But after I shall be risen again, I will go 
before you into Galilee." Peter took offence at this, 
and repeated his boast of fidelity to the Master, and 
thereby drew from Him a repetition of the prophecy 
of his fall. "But Peter saith to Him: Although all 
shall be scandalized in Thee, yet not I. And Jesus 
saith to him : Amen I say to thee, to-day, even in this 
night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny 
Me thrice. But he spoke the more vehemently : Al- 
though I should die together with Thee, I will not 
deny Thee. And in like manner also said they all." 
They were conscious of loyalty, but alas ! not of that 
other virtue which is the test of all virtues — humility. 
" Then Jesus came with them to a country place, 
which is called Gethsemani ; and He said to His dis- 
ciples : Sit you here till I go yonder and pray." Upon 
the slope of the hill and to the right of the road, 
as one goes eastward, was a little grove or garden 
of olive-trees. There Jesus tarried for a moment, 
gathered the eleven about Him, and selecting Peter, 
James, and John as His immediate escort, bade the 
others to wait for His return. With His three com- 
panions He went out from the shadow of the trees into 
the pale light of the paschal moon. " And He taketh 
Peter and James and John with Him, and He began 
to fear and to be heavy." The dread moment had ar- 
rived, the awful Agony in the Garden. Our Saviour's 
mental crucifixion was begun : ' ' And He saith to 
them : My soul is sorrowful even unto death ; stay you 
here and watch. '^ - 



JESUS BEGINS HIS PASSION. 647 

They were not faithful watchers, however; as yet 
they lacked the grace of Christian sympathy. But 
they and all true lovers of Christ have since that sad 
hour been watchers in spirit at Gethsemani and on 
Calvary. The saints have all been deeply penetrated 
by the lessons of that night of the Saviour's spiritual 
desolation and that day of bodily torment which fol- 
lowed it. "For myself, dear brethren," says St. 
Bernard — and he speaks the universal sentiment of de- 
vout souls — ' ' from the first beginning of my con- 
version, seeing myself to be wanting in all virtues, I 
took to myself this bundle of myrrh, made up of all 
my Saviour's bitter sufferings, of the privations He 
endured in His infancy, the toils He underwent in His 
ministry, the weariness He suffered in His journeyings, 
His watching in prayer, His fasting and temptation, 
His tears of compassion, the snares laid to catch Him 
in His words, His perils among false brethren, the 
insults, the blows, the mockeries, the nails ; the sor- 
rows, in short, of all kinds which He endured for the 
salvation of men. I have found wisdom to consist in 
meditation upon these things, and I have discovered 
that here alone is the perfection of justice, the ful- 
ness of wisdom, the riches of salvation, and the 
abundance of merit ; here is that which raises me in 
depression, moderates me in success, and makes me 
to walk safely in the royal road between the goods 
and the evils of this life, removing, on each side, the 
perils which threaten my way. Therefore, also, it 
is that I have these things always in my mouth, as 
you know, and that I have them always in my heart, 
as God knows; they are ever on my pen, as all men 
may see ; and the most sublime philosophy which I 
have in this world is to know Jesus, and Jesus 
crucified." 



648 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN. 

Matt. xxvi. 39-46 ; Mark xiv. 35-42 ; Luke xxii. 41-46. 

He took the road out of Jerusalem and 
across the brook Cedron that David had taken 
when he fled from Absalom ; but Jesus, unlike 
David, does not fly from His enemies. He goes 
to meet them and to give Himself up to them. 
And first of all he surrenders His soul to a 
perfect knowledge of our sins. The most hate- 
ful company He had ever to suffer was the full 
realization of human ingratitude. 

1 ' And He was withdrawn from them a 
stone's cast." The place where Jesus stationed 
the three watchers was on the upper or easterly 
side of the wall enclosing the olive-trees. After 
leaving them He passed northward along the 
wall, crossing the road from the city which 
skirts the enclosure on the north side. At 
some spot near the road, He stopped and de- 
livered Himself up to the first and incomparably the 
most painful torment of His Passion : the contempla- 
tion of the sins of mankind. Doubtless this conscious- 
ness of our sins was not all His suffering in the Gar- 
den, for He felt by anticipation the terrible events 
of that night and the morrow. But the reason of it 
all was mortal sin, and for that Jesus now atoned by 
a mental agony far more intense than the shame and 
the excruciation of Good Friday. When dying He 
shall say, " My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken 
Me!" That desolation begins now. The stern justice of 
the Father delivers Jesus over to sin as to an execu- 
tioner. / 



THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN. 



649 



Jesus was a victim of the conflict of His two great 
loves : His love of us His brethren, and His love of God 
His Father. In proportion to His love for us was His 
terror at the wrath of His Father against us for our 
sins; in proportion to His love for His Father was 
His loathing for us on account of our ingratitude to 
His Father. This is what is meant by the Psalmist 
when he says Jesus suffered "the sorrows of hell." 

As He crossed the road it seemed as if He had 
suddenly entered hell, so unspeak- 
ably bitter was the torture which im- 
mediately seized His spirit. And 
indeed it was His purpose to suffer 
the torments of the damned in order 
that men might escape them. Here, 
then, the human soul of Jesus was 
made to appreciate as never before 
what sin is, to realize the offended 
majesty of God, and, in conjunction 
with that, the awful calamity of be- 
ing a lost soul. To use a feeble 
comparison, He was like an inno- 
cent man who has contrived by means 
of a disguise to take his guilty bro- 
ther's place in the prisoner's dock, 
and in his stead to be tried for an atrocious crime, con- 
demned and executed. Infinite holiness disguises itself 
as pride and sensuality and becomes the victim of the 
sinner's wickedness. The whole shame and degra- 
dation of sin, the entire agony of punishment for sin, 
entered into the thoughts and feelings of Jesus as 
poison would have entered His blood had He drunk 
a cup of it : hence, " let this cup pass from me" was 
the prayer that sprang to His lips in the horror of 
His first moments alone. 



And he was withdrawn away from them 
a stone's cast ; and kneeling down, he fell 
flat on the ground, and he prayed that if it 
might be, the hour might pass from him. 
And he said : Abba, Father, all things are 
possible to thee : remove this chalice from 
me ; but not what I will, but what thou 
wilt. And he cometh to his disciples and 
findeth them asleep. And he said to Peter : 
What ! couldst thou not watch one hour 
with me ? Watch ye and pray that ye en- 
ter not into temptation. The spirit indeed 
is willing, but the flesh weak. Again he 
went the second time and prayed, saying : 
O my Father, if this chalice cannot pass 
away unless I drink it, thy will be done. 
And he cometh again, and findeth them 
asleep, for their eyes were heavy. And 
leaving them he went away again, and he 
prayed the third time, saying the same 
words. And there appeared to him an 
Angel from Heaven strengthening him. 
And being in an agony, he prayed the 
longer. And his sweat became as drops of 
blood trickling down upon the ground. 




650 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

The cup of blessing (I. Cor. x. 16), which He 
had given us a short while before, is now recompensed 
by the cup of malediction thrust upon Him by our 
vices. It agonizes Him to that degree that His hu- 
man heart craves relief. ' ' O My Father ! if it be 
__ possible let this cup pass from Me." His 
g£??S prayer, thrice repeated, is refused, and His sub- 
And _ He prayed that the mission is true, absolute, and universal: " Not 
hour might pass from Him." My will but Thine be done," submission with- 
out exception or qualification, total and irrevocable, 
mere obedience, the displacement of His own will by 
that of the Father. 

He was made to know all sins, in themselves and 
in their circumstances and surroundings, the wilful- 
ness of sin and its folly, the aggravating accompani- 
ments, the countless repetition of sins, the relapses 
after pardon ; all this, with a perfect knowledge and a 
vivid imagination, did its work upon His sensitive 
soul, plunging Him into a condition of agony which 
appalled even so lofty a courage as His. It was from 
this ordeal that He shrank ; He was horrified to find 
Himself feeling guilty of every sin, realizing the re- 
morse, the shame, the eternal despair of sin, becom- 
ing, as it were, responsible for every sin in all re- 
spects except personal guilt ; such was the Saviour's 
doom. He instinctively recoiled from it. ''He fell 
flat on the ground, and He prayed that if it might be, 
the hour might pass from Him. And He said : Abba, 
Father, all things are possible to Thee; remove this 
chalice from Me ; but not what I will, but what Thou 
wilt." 

Here, then, began the crisis of our atonement. 
" The High-Priest of the law," says St. Francis de 
Sales, "wore upon his back and upon his breast the 
names of the children of Israel engraven on precious 



THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN. 



651 



stones. Ah ! behold Jesus, our chief bishop, and see 
how from the instant of His conception He bore us 
upon His shoulders, undertaking the charge of re- 
deeming us \>y His death, even the death of the 




He findeth them asleep.' 



Cross. O Theotimus, Theotimus, this soul of our Sa- 
viour knew us all by name and by surname; but 
above all in the day of His Passion, when He offered 
His tears, His prayers, His blood and His life for 



652 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

all, He breathed in particular for thee these thoughts 
of love : Ah, My eternal Father, I take to myself 
and charge Myself with all poor Theotimus's sins, 
to undergo torments and death that he may be 
freed from them, and that he may not perish but 
live. Let Me die so that he may live ; let Me be 
crucified so he may be glorified. O sovereign love 
of the heart of Jesus, what heart can ever bless Thee 
as devotedly as it ought ? " ( The Love of God, Book 
XII. chap. 12). This explains the meaning of His 
saying, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." It 
was all the death that an immortal soul could suffer. 
The forces of a spirit cannot be dissolved, the facul- 
ties of thought and love cannot rot and perish like 
flesh and blood. 

But to know the mystery of sin and to feel the 
insolence and ingratitude of it as Jesus did, and to 
realize perfectly the divine hatred for it, is to be 
wounded fatally in every capacity of joy. 

But Jesus, if He shrank from this woe and prayed 
His Father to remove it, did not do so uncondi- 
tionally. If the Father insisted, He was obedient un- 
to this mental death. The spell of the Father's will 
was upon Him. "Not My will but Thine be done," 
He prayed : and as often as He drew away from His 
self-chosen agony so often did He return to it. Con- 
solation from the Father there was none ; the heav- 
ens were dark and silent. The loving heart of Jesus 
sought consolation therefore in the sympathy of His 
disciples, the chosen three. " And He cometh to His 
disciples and findeth them asleep. And He said to 
Peter : What ! could you not watch one hour with 
Me?" How touching an appeal! How sad a dis- 
appointment ! Peter could boast of heroic fidelity, 
readiness for chains and even death rather than deny 



THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN, 



653 



his Master. But lie could not keep awake for His 
sake a single hour. The awful agony expressed in 
the words of Jesus, "My soul is sorrowful even unto 
death," could not haunt away the heaviness of sleep 
from the Apostles. Judas could watch, and 
was then watching and waiting for his prey 
like a sleepless tiger, and he did it for money. 
Peter could not watch for love. Jesus pitied 
him, and gave him and the others a final warn- 
ing. "Watch ye and pray that ye enter not 
into temptation." And then, as if moralizing 
on their weakness and palliating it, He said : 
"The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh 
is weak." 

Back again He went into " the mire of the deep," 
as the prophet calls His desolation, and generously 
opening out His mind and heart to the pains of the 
damned He took them into His soul. "Again He 
went the second time and prayed, saying : O My 
Father, if this chalice cannot pass away unless I drink 
it, Thy will be done." How long He stayed there, 
across that road which seemed to be the dead-line 
of His soul, there is no record. He stood His ground, 
He faced these foes of the spirit world, not with the 
ordinary valor of one who hopes to conquer, but with 
a more intense degree of that desperate bravery of 
love and loyalty which inspires the soldiers of the 
forlorn hope as they mount the fiery breach, fight- 
ing with the certainty of being sacrificed, that the 
men who follow may win the citadel. 

When He was again overcharged with the horrors 
of sin and of its penalties, He came back a second 
time, no doubt fainting with His misery, to seek the 
company of His disciples. Our Lord had taken an 
enormous disproportion of the night's burden ; He 




"And being in an agony, He 
prayed the longer." 



654 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



agreed to suffer if the three disciples would but watch. 
They would not or could not be His partners in even 
this generous allotment. He was once more disap- 
pointed. "And He cometh again, and findeth them 
asleep, for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them 
He went away again, and He prayed the third time, 
saying the same words." This time He fought it out to 
the end. He outstayed the period of the Father's allot- 
ment of bitterness. All that thought and affection, 
gratitude and appreciation, could suffer from insult and 
contempt ; all that is meant by disappointment, chagrin, 
failure ; all that hell could do to an innocent soul, 
all this Jesus suffered that we might escape it. At 
length the end approached. The Father had not, in- 
deed, relaxed His justice ; the soul of Jesus had been 
crucified. But the paternal love sent a messenger 
of consolation. ' ' And there appeared to Him an angel 
from heaven strengthening Him." 

The angel ministers to Him, but does not release 
Him. Nothing more clearly shows the extremity of 
our Saviour's agony than His recourse to angels 
when men had failed Him. The angel 
was forbidden to announce from the Fa- 
ther the reversal of the decree, that men's 
sins were to become Jesus' own ; 
the heavenly messenger was not 
a a a *k *v, ™ permitted to unclothe Him of our 

"And He cometh again, and findeth them r 

asleep " infamy. He had kind sympathy 

to offer, but the shame of being the first born among 
so many treacherous brethren sank slowly deeper and 
deeper into the soul of Jesus under the pitying glances 
of the celestial spirit. 

" And being in an agony, He prayed the longer." 
But the agony, at least in its bitterest suffering, was 
over. The angel solaced His spirit with messages 




THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN 655 

from tlie Father, and helped Him to end His direful 
task with prayers of less terrible protest. But when 
He arose and wiped the sweat from His face He found 
blood mingled with it ; it was oozing out from every 
pore. "And His sweat became as drops of blood 
trickling down upon the ground." The spasms of 
His heart had driven the blood of the Saviour with 
such force as to cause it to overflow its channels. 

If Jesus had suffered an indescribable agony in the 
Garden, He also had gathered an increase of cour- 
age from His fortitude and His prayers. For when 
He realized that His hour was at hand He arose, wiped 
the blood-stained sweat from His face, and calling to 
His Apostles to follow Him, calmly advanced towards 
His enemies to give Himself up to them. There shall 
be no further sign of fear in Him, or of other emotion, 
till "all things are accomplished." 

Strengthened in soul by this mighty prayer, 
though doubtless quite worn out in body, the Sa- 
viour returned the third and last time to His Apos- 
tles "and findeth them sleeping from sorrow," for 
it is known that excessive grief often brings on a 
dozing state. "He saith to them: Sleep ye now 
and take your rest." This indicates a further con- 
ference with the angel, or the quiet passing of some 
interval of time before the arrest of Jesus. Finally, 
knowing that the traitor and his band of soldiers were 
approaching, He awakened the three Apostles, say- 
ing, "It is enough, the hour is come"; they all re- 
turned to the olive grove and awakened the other 
eight, and then He moved out calmly at their head 
to meet His foes. " Behold the Son of Man shall be 
betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us 
go. Behold he that will betray Me is a* hand." 



656 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




"And he kissed Him." 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

JESUS IS BETRAYED WITH A KISS. 

Matt. xxvi. 47-50 ; Mark xiv. 43-46 ; Luke xxii. 4J-48 ; 
John xviii. 2-9. 

The traitor must have led his band to the Garden 
across a bridge lower down the brook Cedron than 
the one used by Jesus and His disciples earlier in the 
evening, if the tradition is true which marks the spot 
of our Saviour's arrest south of the enclosure of 
olive-trees. The traitor had many times prayed 
there with his Master. "And Judas also, who be- 
trayed Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often 
resorted thither together with His disciples." He 
knew the way by night as well as by day, but they 
took lanterns, lest Jesus should be hidden in some of 
the dark ravines or grottoes. " Judas therefore, hav- 
ing received a band of soldiers and servants from 
the chief priests and the Pharisees, 
cometh thither with lanterns and torches 
and weapons." He led a detachment 
from the Roman garrison, a part also 
of the armed guard or police of the Tem- 
ple, and with them went some of the 
priests themselves ; it was their servants 
who carried the bludgeons. The sol- 
diers could easily be had, for all this 
week they were held in readiness day 
and night to quell disturbances incident 
to the great gathering at the paschal 
solemnities. 

That the arrest should be sudden, and 
if possible bloodless, was doubtless the 
purpose of all concerned in it, especially 



JESUS IS BETRA YED WITH A KISS. 



657 



j |_/\iid J uuasj wtnt before them and 
j drew near to Jesus to kiss him. [For he] 
had given them a sign, saying: Whomso- 
ever I shall kiss, that is he ; lay hold on 
him and lead him away carefully. And 
when he was come, immediately going up 
to him, he said : Hail, Rabbi ! and he 
kissed him. And Jesus said to him : 
Friend, whereto art thou come ? Judas, 
dost thou betray the Son of Man with a 
kiss ? Jesus therefore, knowing all things 
that should come upon him, went forward 
and said to them : Whom seek ye ? They 
answered him : Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus 
saith to them : I am he. And Judas also 
who betrayed him, stood with them. As 
soon then as he had said to them : I am 
he, they went backward, and fell to the 
ground. Again therefore he asked them : 
Whom seek ye ? And they said : Jesus of 
Nazareth. Jesus answered : I have told 
you that I am he ; if therefore you seek 
me, let these go their way ; that the word 
might be fulfilled which he said : Of them 
whom thou hast given me, I have not lost 
any one. Then they came up and laid 
hands upon him and held him. 



the Roman officers. Hence trie kiss 
of Judas as a means of identifying 
Jesus. It was the usual mode of 
greeting between the loving Master 
and His Apostles on meeting after 
a separation. It was an aggrava- 
tion of Judas's treachery, the same 
mouth spitting out the venom of 
treason, "Hail, Rabbi!" while it 
mocked the victim with a kiss. 
The caress of love shall be the stab 
of treason. 

The patient meekness of Jesus 
was never better shown than in His 
receiving that kiss, and addressing 
Judas with the holy name of Friend. 
The questions which He asked, the 
absence of all anger in His sad words, associated with 
the power of His very glance to cast His enemies to 
the ground, and, had He so willed it, to annihilate 
them, to say nothing of His full liberty to escape, and 
finally His loving care that His disciples should go un- 
molested — all this forms a scene of marvellous affec- 
tion, as well as a vivid contrast between perfect love 
and Satanic hate. 

Jesus delivers Himself to them now, though many 
times before He had released Himself. Then they 
had the will, but He had withheld from them the 
power. Now He has the power to save Himself, but 
He has not the will. He had surrendered to His 
Father before doing so to them. " The chalice which 
My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?" 

They bind the hands of Jesus. Herein He gives 
us a lesson of how far obedience may lawfully be 
carried ; for He allows His omnipotent hands to be 



658 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

bound, and by such atrocious wretches as these, that 
He may be wholly submissive to His Father's good 
pleasure. 

The avarice which actuated the awful treason of 
Judas is all the more fearful because in contrast with 
one of our Saviour's conspicuous virtues, love of 
poverty and contempt for riches. 

The greatest crime ever committed was this be- 
trayal ; and it was conceived and determined in the 
holiest sanctuary ever known to men, the personal 
company of the Son of God. Was there ever a 
spectacle equal to this embrace of Jesus Christ and 
Judas, the one whispering a last appeal for repent- 
ance, and the other thinking only of finishing his 
horrible work of betrayal ? 



CHAPTER XI,. 

THE RESISTANCE OF THE APOSTl.ES AND THEIR FLIGHT. 

Matt. xxvi. 51-56 ; Mark xiv. 47-52 ; Luke xxii. 49-53 ; 
John xviii. io, 11. 

When Jesus was seized the disciples were still 
close to Him. They were not to slink away in 
utter cowardice. "And they that were about Him, 
seeing what would follow, said to Him : Lord, shall we 
strike with the sword? " Peter, ever eager and rash, 
waited not for an answer. ' ' Then Simon Peter, hav- 
ing a sword, drew it, and struck the servant of the 
High-Priest, and cut off his right ear. And the name 
of the servant was Malchus." Bloodshed, thus add- 
ing its furious stimulus, increased the excitement to- 
gether with the confusion of voices and the crowding 
in of the guards and attendants. But the calm tones 
of the Master arose, saving His foolhardy followers 




&£ i 



o 
u 

< 



RESISTANCE AND FLIGHT OF THE APOSTLES. 659 

from instant destruction, and showing what kind of 
force may not be used in His defence. " But Jesus an- 
swering said : Suffer ye thus far. And when He had 
touched his ear He healed him. Then Jesus said to 
Peter: Put up again thy sword into its place. For 
all that take the sword shall perish with the sword. 
Thinkest thou that I cannot ask My Father, and He 
will give Me presently more than twelve legions of 
angels? How then shall the Scripture be fulfilled, 
that so it must be done? " The curing of Malchus's 
ear was the last miracle of Jesus till He rose from the 
dead, except the spiritual ones of pardoning Peter, and 
then the thief and the conspirators upon Calvary. His 
latest miracles were in favor of His enemies. And 
then He turned His thoughts to the stern obedience 
His love had plighted to His Father. ( ' The chalice 
which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink 
it ? " * 

And now having taught His friends a last lesson of 
peace, He turned to His enemies. They had come 
out against Him as if to besiege a robber chief in 
his den. They started forth to quell a sedition — the 
offence He was least capable of committing — and they 
had found an unresisting Teacher of pardon and peace. 
To the leaders Jesus now made His reproaches. As 
the soldiers were binding His hands, and His dis- 
ciples were fleeing away, "Jesus said to the chief 
priests and magistrates of the Temple, and the ancients 
that were come unto Him : Are you come out as it 
were against a thief, with swords and clubs to appre- 
hend Me ? I sat daily with you teaching in the 
Temple, and you laid not hands on Me ; but this is 

* Some commentators read an allegory in this incident — that force 
used for religious ends has its usual effect in cutting off the ears of the 
enemies of Jesus : that is, in deafening them to His doctrine. 



660 LIFE OF yESUS CHRIST. 

your hour and the power of darkness. Now all this 
was done, that the Scriptures of the prophets might 
be fulfilled. Then His disciples leaving Him, all fled 
away." 

What follows in St. Mark's Gospel is the singular 
incident of the young man and his night-garment. 
"And a certain young man followed Him, having a 
linen cloth cast about his naked body, and they laid hold 
on him. But he, casting off the linen cloth, fled from 
them naked." It is certain that St. Mark, who alone 
relates this occurrence, lived with his mother in Jeru- 
salem at a later date (Acts xii. 12). Probably he \ 
lived there at this time also, and many have sup- 
posed that the Last Supper was celebrated in his 
house. Hearing the noise of the band of soldiers, who 1 
perhaps searched that house on their way out, Mark, 
it is presumed, had followed them with the result ; 
that he narrates. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

JESUS IS I,ED BEFORE ANNAS AND CAIPHAS. — THE 
DENIAL OF PETER. 

Matt. xxvi. 57-72; Mark xiv. 53-70; Luke x xii. 54-58 ; 
John xviii. 12-25. 

1 ' Then the band and the tribune and the servants 
of the Jews took Jesus and bound Him. And they 
led Him away to Annas first, for he was father-in- 
law to Caiphas, who was high-priest of that year." 
They probably returned by the way they had come : 
the lower bridge over the Cedron and thence along 
the south side of the Temple up to Mount Sion. 
Various traditions point out on Mount Sion the site 
of Annas's house and that of Caiphas, as well as of 






JESC/S IS LED BEFORE ANNAS AND CAIPHAS. 661 



the room in which our Saviour passed the hours of 
this terrible night after the high-priests had tried 
Him. But what is certain from the sacred narrative 
is, that He was thrice arraigned before the Jewish 
authority ; that is to say, once before Annas, 
then before Caiphas presiding over the San- 
hedrin. These two trials were on Thursday 
night. The third was by the Sanhedrin ear- 
ly Friday morning. St. John recalls the Ba- 
laam-like prophecy of Caiphas. " Now Cai- 
phas was he who had given the 
counsel to the Jews, that it was 
expedient that one man should 
die for the people." 

Annas, as we have seen, had 
been deposed from office by the 
Roman power, but was con- 
sidered the true high-priest by 
the Jews. The trial of Jesus 
before him was therefore a pri- 
vate one, managed by the con- 
spirators to natter his vanity 
and secure his influence against 
Jesus for the subsequent trials, 
both Jewish and Roman. Mean- 
time Caiphas, who was a crea- 
ture of Annas, either lived with him or had been 
brought to his house for the occasion ; and the mem- 
bers of the Sanhedrin were sent for and held their 
court in the same place. This explanation, which 
accords with the probabilities of the case and with 
the brief Gospel narrative as well, makes the first 
two trials take place in different parts of the same 
building or group of buildings. 

But the Evangelists, before describing the trials, 




Peter remembered the word that Jesus 

had said." 



662 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



And Simon Peter followed Jesus afar off, 
and so did another disciple. And that 
disciple was known to the high-priest, and 
went in with Jesus into the court of the 
high-priest. But Peter stood at the door 
without. The other disciple, therefore, 
who was known to the high-priest, went out 
and spoke to the portress, and brought in 
Peter. And the maid that was portress 
saith to Peter : Art not thou also one of this 
man's disciples ? He saith : I am not. 
Now the servants and officers stood at a fire 
of coals, because it was cold, and warmed 
themselves ; and with them was Peter also 
standing and warming himself. And there 
came to him a servant-maid of the high- 
priest ; and when she had seen Peter warm- 
ing himself, and had earnestly beheld him, 
she said : Thou also wast with Jesus of 
Nazareth, the Galilean. But he denied 
before them all, saying : Woman, I know 
him not : I neither know nor understand 
what thou sayest. And he went forth be- 
fore the court, and the cock crew. 



tell us of Peter's calamitous fall. 
He denied his Master thrice, which 
means on three separate occasions, 
but including at each denial several 
repetitions of his cowardly words, 
given in answer to repeated ques- 
tions. The first occasion was when 
John, who had some close acquain- 
tance or perhaps kinship with An- 
nas, induced the portress to let Peter 
into the courtyard or enclosure about 
the house. What a change from 
the boaster in the supper-room, the 
wielder of the sword in the garden, 
to the quaking coward in the high- 
priest's courtyard ! Jesus knew 
Peter's weakness, and had warned him. He was 
self-sufficient and rash, would not heed the warning, 
and fell beneath the bantering questions of a maid- 
servant. He had been willing to die with Jesus, 
and now he creeps in among the idle and gossiping 
servants and soldiers and makes himself one of them, 
curious " tc see the end" without endangering his 
own safety — and when put to the test answers ''Wo- 
man, I know Him not." 

The end had indeed begun. The lamb was in 
the wolf's den. The mock trial, instigated by hatred 
and carried on before judges with murder in their 
hearts, began with a shameless attempt to force Jesus 
into incriminating admissions. " The high-priest then 
asked Jesus of His disciples and of His doctrine." 
Our Saviour might have pointed to Peter as a speci- 
men of the stuff His followers were made of. As to 
His teaching, nothing was better known. "Jesus an- 
swered him : I have spoken openly to the world ; I 



THE DENIAL OF PETER. 



663 



have always taught in the synagogue and in the 
Temple, whither all the Jews resort, and in secret I 
have spoken nothing." We can easily imagine the 
glance of majestic scorn with which the Master 
pointedly said, searching His questioner's motives : 
4 ' Why askest thou Me ? Ask them who have heard 
what I have spoken unto them ; behold, they know 
what things I have said." 

Doubtless the guilty judge quailed beneath this 
correction from the prisoner, bound and helpless be- 
fore him ; and seeing this, a cowardly attendant came 
to his master's help. "And when [Jesus] had said 
these things, one of the servants standing by, gave 
Jesus a blow, saying : Answerest Thou the high- 
priest so ? Jesus answered him : If I have spoken 
evil, give testimony of the evil; but if well, why 
strikest thou Me ? And Annas sent Him bound to 
Caiphas, the high-priest." Only a short time before 
when Peter smote Malchus Jesus resented the blow 
inflicted on an enemy ; now when H e is Himself 
smitten he accepts the blow and deigns to argue 
with His assailant. 

This seems to have ended Annas's examination 
of the prisoner. It was then the turn of Caiphas 
and the Sanhedriu. Meantime, and while the 
Saviour was being led from one court-room into 
another, poor Simon Peter again denied Him. 
" And all the priests and the scribes and the an- 
cients were assembled together. And Peter fol- 
lowed [Jesus] even into the court of the high- " H ^ wept bitterly.' 
priest. And as he went out of the gate, another maid 
saw him, and she saith to the standers-by : This man 
also was with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he 
denied with an oath, that : I know not the Man. 
And another seeing him, standing and warming him- 




664 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

self, said therefore to him : Art not thou also one of His 
disciples ? He denied it, and said : man, I am not." 

Meantime the trial of Jesus proceeded. All the 
malignity of men and devils is concentrated in this 
court, and from it there is distributed into the whole 
Jewish race the venom of hatred against Christ, as the 
blood of a patient is poisoned by the gathered venom 
of an ulcer — relentless hatred, the barbarous cruelty 
of souls steeped in vice. Yet they are members of 
a divinely instituted tribunal, and they are meant by 
God to be models of righteousness as men, models of 
justice as judges. They assume the show of these 
virtues, and add to their ordinary crimes the excep- 
tional one of hypocrisy. They cover blasphemy and 
sacrilege and murder with the mantle of religious zeal. 

The object of every judicial process is to discover 
the truth ; of this one the purpose is to hide the truth 
and to put the accused to death. No wonder that our 
Saviour was almost entirely silent before such a court 
as this, simply saying that He had spoken in public 
and all knew His doctrine — He calls the whole nation 
as His witness. 



CHAPTER XI.II. 

THE FIRST TRIAL OF JESUS 3EFORE THE SANHEDRIN 
— THIRD DENIAE OF PETER. 



Matt. xxvi. 59-75 '; Mark xiv. 55-72 ; Luke xxii. 59-62 ; 
John xviii. 26, 27. 

Enemies of good men have always sought to con- 
demn them out of their own mouths, catching them by 
words uttered in unguarded moments and capable of 
misinterpretation. Thus acted the Sanhedrin, now 
assembled near the midnight hour, bent upon con- 
demning Jesus of Nazareth to death. But they were 






THE FIRST TRIAL OF JESUS. 



66% 



legalists of an extreme type and would commit murder 
under due forms of law, that is, after the show of a 
trial before a court. Their present meeting was not 
intended to be a regular session of the court, but 
rather the conspirators secretly rehearsing their part 
as forsworn judges ; as soon as the law would allow 
— that is, when morning came — they were going to 
play their part in the open. But their pretence of 
evidence and witnesses was utterly futile, They were 
determined to put Jesus to death any way. What a 
dreadful crime in these judges, thus to conspire before- 
hand the death of a prisoner to be tried by them- 
selves ! 

The Sanhedrin was a court composed of members 
of the priestly families and of the 
most distinguished doctors of the 
Mosaic law. Their power extended 
over all religious matters in the en- 
tire race of Israel, including crimi- 
nal and civil cases, as far as the 
limits of Judea. They were not, 
indeed, the successors of the seven- 
ty elders who had been organized 
by Moses under divine mandate 
to assist in governing the nation , 
that council had lapsed ages before. 
But they were nevertheless a regu- 
larly constituted court for the trial 
of offences against the religious and 
civil code of God's people. And 
yet, under the influence of the Sad- 
ducean priests, men who did not be- 
lieve in the immortality of the hu- 
man soul, as well as of that of the fanatical Pharisees, 
who perverted the law of Moses to an abominable pet- 



Now the chief priests and the whole 
council sought false witness against Jesus, 
that they might put him to death ; and they 
found not, whereas many false witnesses 
had come in ; and their evidence did not 
agree. And last of all there came in two 
false witnesses, saying : We heard him 
say : I will destroy this temple, made with 
hands, and within three days I will build 
another not made with hands. And their 
witness did not agree. And the high- 
priest, rising up in the midst, asked Jesus, 
saying : Answereth thou nothing to the 
things that are laid to thy charge by these 
men ? But he held his peace, and answer- 
ed nothing. And: he high-priest said to 
him : I adjure thee, by the living God, that 
thou tell us, if thou be the Christ, the Son 
of the blessed God ? And Jesus said to 
him : I am. Thou hast said it. Neverthe- 
less I say to you, hereafter you shall see 
the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of 
the power of God, and coming in the 
clouds of heaven. Then the high-priest 
rent his garments, saying: He hath blas- 
phemed, what further need have we of 
witnesses ? Behold now you have heard 
the blasphemy, what think you ? But they 
all answering said : He is guilty of death. 



666 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

tiness of observance, the Sanhedrin revolted almost 
unanimously against the Messias. Xicodemus and 
some others among them were faithful ; but they were 
too few and too timid to make any resistance, or 
even to appear at the trial. 

The supremacy of Jesus over the Temple and the 
law had been asserted by Him public!}' and repeatedly, 
and this was the chief accusation now brought against 
Him. Yet their witnesses, depraved men, could not 
agree in their testimony, contradicted each other — 
just how is not told. But this claim of Jesus amount- 
ed to so high an assertion of power that to admit 
it as just was something like adoration of Him as 
Sovereign Master of all things. This was what they 
hated. Christ's assertion of divine prerogatives was 
what enraged them. They hurried headlong into 
murder because God had so loved the world as to 
become Man; because God's only begotten Son had 
taken our human nature, and insisted on proclaim- 
ing His divine attributes. Therefore, when legal 
evidence failed, the infamous Caiphas struck out a 
short cut to their end. He rose up and adjured 
Jesus to own His character as Messias. Thus put 
under oath, our Saviour did not flinch. He might 
lawfully have evaded the test ; He was subject to 
none of their courts. But even if He were, this as- 
semblage was no court, for it was neither held at 
the legal hour, nor publicly called ; nor had it ob- 
served the right form of procedure, which, in the first 
place, required the prisoner's case to be stated and 
his witnesses summoned and heard; nor could judges 
openly committed against a prisoner rightly sit at 
his trial. All these were fatal objections to the legal- 
ity of the trial and of any question asked upon it. 
But when the high-priest asked ■ ' Art Thou the Son 



THIRD DENIAL OF PETER. 667 

of God?" Jesus answered, "I am." I am (as if 
to say) the only begotten Son of God ; I am the be- 
ginning and the end ; before Abraham your father 
was, I am. I am the way, the truth, and the life; I 
am who am. This answer was the full majesty of 
Jesus in open proclamation. Upon hearing it they all 
condemned Him, and sentenced Him to death. 

They rent their garments in token of horror at His 
blasphemy. L,ittle did they dream that their perfidy 
rent the veil of their Temple and extinguished the 
holy fire of its sanctuary in everlasting shame. 

About an hour had passed away since Peter's 
second denial of his Master. And now his miserable 
weakness again sank down under the looks and jeers 
of the crowd in the courtyard. It began with his 
being recognized by one of the party who had appre- 
hended Jesus. "And after the space as it were of 
one hour, one of the servants of the high-priest, a 
kinsman to him whose ear Peter cut off, saith to 
him : Did not I see thee in the garden with Him ? 
Again therefore Peter denied." But he denied in 
vain. He was noticed and recognized by many others, 
his accent and dress told against him. The excite- 
ment was growing high, for the trial was nearly done. 
Peter in his frantic eagerness to escape cursed and 
swore in denial of his discipleship. " And they came, 
that stood by, and said again to Peter : Surely thou art 
one of them, for thou art also a Galilean, even thy 
speech doth discover thee. Then he began to curse 
and swear, saying : I know not this man of whom you 
speak. And immediately the cock crew again." 

The crowing of the cock this second time, unheard 
by him before, now wakes Peter as if from a drunken 
stupor. The same instant, Jesus, passing near, trans- 
pierces his heart with a glance of loving reproach. 




Traditional site of Judas's 
Suicide. 



668 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

The moon sailing across the high heavens lights up 
the two pale faces whose looks are fastened on each 
other, one already swollen by the soldier's blow, but 
kindly even in reproof; the other haggard with re- 
morse and shame. " And the Lord turning looked on 
Peter. And Peter remembered the word that Jesus 
had said unto him : Before the cock crow twdce, thou 
shalt thrice deny Me. And going forth, 
he wept bitterly." 

A true repentance, deep, humble, sincere; 
) a perfect restoration to the Saviour's love. 
We shall see that after His resurrection 
Jesus said and did various important things 
about Peter, but his sin He never named. 
That glance of reproach was penance enough. 
Peter had made magnificent promises in 
the supper- room, and he had risked his life in 
the garden to keep them true. But to the 
eternal discredit of self-trust he broke utterly 
down in the courtyard of Caiphas's house, 
and became an ingrate, a liar, and a per- 
jurer. 

To deny the Lord in His hour of deepest misery 
and direst need was the perfidy of Peter : it thus 
pleased divine Providence that the visible head of 
the Church of Christ should be its leading penitent. 
An institution for the saving of sinners is well begun 
by the conversion of Peter. 

Not even the Redeemer's love for Magdalene or His 
pardon of His murderers is more suggestive of how 
to treat penitent sinners than His absolute pardon 
of Peter, followed by His utter silence as to his 
offence, His holding him fast in His primacy, and 
His confirming and augmenting his honors. 



THE TERRIBLE NIGHT OF HOL Y THURSDA Y. 669 
CHAPTER XLIII. 

THE TBRRIBIvE NIGHT OP HOLY THURSDAY. 

Matt. xxvi. 67-68; Mark xiv. 65 ; Luke xxii. 63-65. 

After the trials Jesus was mocked and spat upon. 
This cruel treatment, which took place in some care- 
fully guarded room in or near the 
dwelling of Annas, is related in a 
few brief sentences of the Synoptics. 
Doubtless the soldiers had much if 
not most to do with these insults, 
but there must have been repre- 



And the men that held him, mocked hini 
and struck him Then did they spit on his 
face and buffeted him And they blind- 
folded him, and smote his face with the 
palms of i heir hands, saying : Prophesy 
unto us, O Christ ! Who is he that struck 
thee ? And blaspheming, many other 
things they said against him. 



sentatives of the Sanhedrin there that they might 
make sure of keeping their victim ; they would enjoy 
this monstrous pastime of the soldiers and take part 
in it. The Psalmist (Ps. xxi. 7, 8) saw it all in 
vision: "But I am a worm, and no man, the re- 
proach of men, and the outcast of the people. All 
they that saw Me have laughed Me to scorn." The 
spittle of the Pharisee defiled that patient face, for 
only against them and their hypocrisy had it ever 
been hardened. Their brutal fists beat Him, their 
suggestion it was that tied His eyes and set the sol- 
diers to their mocking of His Messiasship. Isaias 
(liii.) had foreshown the Saviour as an abject and 
despised and blinded wretch, wounded and bruised 
by His enemies. The legionaries stood for the 
common herd of sinners of all time, debauched 
and abandoned ruffians ; and the proud Scribes 
stood for those lecturers and authors, and other " Who is he that struck 
leaders of sinners, who provide men with the thee?" 

blasphemous lies needed to still remorse of conscience. 
A sorrowful night it was, full of pain and insult 
from without ; within, a measureless yearning for the 




670 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

end, for the cross. But while 
Jesus suffered the insults of this 
dreadful night He offered an ex- 
ample of the most perfect pa- 
tience. He was absolutely sub- 
missive, yet without cringing. He 
was, He must have been, exceed- 
ingly sensitive to these degrading 
humiliations and tortures ; but 
there is no record of any com- 
plaint. It is not apathy but re- 
signation to the Father's will that 
mutely accepts these indignities, a submission so lov- 
ing as to see something love-worthy even in the ma- 
licious instruments of a beneficent justice wreaked 
upon an innocent victim of redeeming love. 




" Prophesy unto us, O Christ ! " 



CHAPTER XI.IV. 

JESUS BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN. 

Matt, xxvii. i, 2; Mark xv. 1 ;' Luke xxii. 66-yi ; 
John xviii. 28. 

The haste and hurry of the procedure against 
Jesus is accounted for by various causes. The con- 
spirators wished to be done with Him before the Pass- 
over; they feared a revolt in His favor; especially 
they were on fire with hate. They seized the earliest 
possible moment in the morning to open their court 
and go through the forms of a trial. "And straight- 
way in the morning, as soon as it was day, the an- 
cients of the people and the chief priests and scribes 
and the whole council came together and held a coun- 
cil against Jesus to put Him to death." It is curious 
to notice that these sticklers for legality waited till 



JESUS BEFORE THE SANHEDRTN. 671 

daylight because it was unlawful to try a culprit for 
a capital crime at night— yet remorselessly violated the 
most sacred of all judicial rules, fairness to the 
prisoner : these judges who prejudge their prisoner 
are scrupulous as to the legal forms of their pro- 
cedure. 

The Saviour is again incited to be His own in- 
criminating witness, and again willingly asserts His 
divinity. "And they brought Him into their coun- 
cil, saying : If Thou be the Christ tell us. And He 
saith to them : If I shall tell you, you will not be- 
lieve Me, and if I shall also ask you, you will not 
answer Me nor let Me go. But hereafter the Son of 
Man shall be sitting on the right hand of the power 
of God. Then said they all: Art Thou then the Son 
of God? And He said: You say that I am. And 
they said : What need we any further testimony ? 
For we ourselves have heard it from His own 
mouth.; ' 

It was thus that they condemned Him to death. 
Jesus proclaimed His Messiasship, and that meant 
His divine Sonship. Of His own accord He added a 
citation of His judges to His own court at a future 
day, when He would arraign them before His divine 
authority and in the presence of His Father, to be 
judged in their turn with just judgment and con- 
demned by an irrevocable sentence. It was a sad 
spectacle, that bruised and helpless Prisoner, defiled 
with their spittle and hated by them as no man ever 
was hated before or since ; it was a dreadful spectacle 
to see Him and them laying up material for a future 
meeting and settlement between Jehovah and them, 
His chosen but traitorous representatives. Yet there 
was a terrible consistency in the council's action. It 
agreed well with their original and persistent rejec- 



672 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

tion of Jesus. For if Jesus be not the Son of God, it 
must be owned that He is the worst blasphemer who 
ever lived. Those in our day who would follow His 
standard and still deny His divinity are, if indeed less 
guilt}* than the Jewish judges, yet far less consistent. 
For Jesus has taught nothing so clearly as that He 
is the only begotten Son of God, of one nature with 
the heavenly Father. 




What is that to 
us?" 



CHAPTER XLV. 

THE DESPAIR OF JUDAS AND HIS SUICIDE. 
Matt, xxvii. 3-Z0. 

As the sacred narrative follows the Saviour from 
the council room to Pilate's hall, it turns a side glance 
upon Judas and tells of His end. He may or may 
not have fancied that Jesus would deliver Himself 
from His enemies by a miracle ; his avarice may or 
may not have blinded him to the atrocity of his 
crime before its consummation. But it is a delusion 
to attribute any worth}* motives to any part of the 
treason of this base wretch, of whom the Saviour 
said he had better never have been born ; of whom the 
Gospel says that the evil one entered into him, and 
of whom St. John says that he was a thief and a 
hypocrite ; of whom St. Peter says that he had fallen 
by transgression, had been paid monej T for his ini- 
quity, and had been deposed from his apostleship 
"that he might go to his own place," adding a refer- 
ence to the loathsome manner of his death, that he 
"being hanged, burst asunder in the midst; and all 
his bowels gushed out" (Acts i. 16-25). 

Judas is the Great Traitor, the Great Spy, the 
Great Thief of all our race. And finally he became 



THE DESPAIR OF JUDAS AND HIS SUICIDE, 673 



Then Judas, who betrayed him, seeing 
that he was condemned ; repenting him- 
self, brought back the thirty pieces of silver 
to the chief priests and ancients, saying : I 
have sinned, in betraying innocent blood. 
But they said : What is that to us ? look 
thou to it. And casting down the pieces of 
silver in the temple, he departed : and 
went and hanged himself with an halter. 
But the chief priests having taken the 
pieces of silver, said : It is not lawful to 
put them into the corbona, because it is the 
price of blood. And after they had con- 
sulted together, they bought with them the 
potter's field, to be a burying-place for 
strangers. For this cause that field was 
called haceldama, that is, the field of blood, 
even to this day. Then was fulfilled that 
which was spoken by Jeremias the pro- 
phet, saying: And they took the thirty 
pieces of silver, the price of him thai was 
prized, whom they prized of the children 
of Israel. And they gave them unto the 
potter 's field, as the Lord appointed to me. 



the pattern of the worst form of im- 
penitence, despair. Prowling about 
the precincts of the court during the 
trials, hearing a word, catching a 
glimpse of the proceedings, hearing 
the cry of triumphant rage, " He is 
guilty of death ! ' ' and knowing 
what this meant and how he was 
the cause of it all, the money of 
the Traitor began to burn him. 
When morning came the sacrifice 
at the Temple was attended by some 
of the priests who had been at the 
trial, and Judas went to them and 
I handed back the fatal blood-money. 
But bribe-givers the world over de- 
spise bribe-takers. "What is that to us?" they 
sneered; " Look thou to it." He dropped the pieces 
of silver on the floor, went out to a quiet spot, and 
put himself to death. When the bribe-givers heard 
this they took the money, which must have been 
gathered up by the servants of the Temple, and, zeal- 
ous for the outward forms of religion, they would not 
use this price of human blood for the worship of God. 
They had recently been bargaining for a potter's field 
as a strangers' cemetery ; this money helped them 
through and they concluded the purchase. 

Thus ended the career of one whose awful crime 
of the betrayal of Jesus was painted a deeper dye by 
I the sin of despair, by the hateful pride of ranking 
i the guilt of the betrayer higher than the mercy of 
: the betrayed. The despair of Judas, giving up the 
i money he had so ardently coveted, and avowing that 
he had betrayed innocent blood, is in contrast with 
I the malignant perseverance of the high-priests, who 



674 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

would neither take the money back nor relent in their 
purpose. Their thirst for the blood of Jesus was in- 
satiable. 

Judas' treason has given avarice a peculiar supre- 
macy among the vices. Those whose vocation it is to 
fight vice know well that love of money is in many 
ways the most cruel of the enemies of the human soul, 
as it was the incitement to the most awful crime 
ever committed. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

JESUS BEFORE PIIyATE. 

Matt, xxvii. 2-1 1 ; Mark xv. i ; Luke xxiii. z } 2; 
John xviii. 28-32. 

The next step in the conspiracy was to engage 
the help of the Roman power in carrying out the 
sentence of death. To put a prisoner to death was 
no longer in the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin. There- 
fore they hurried away in a bod} 7 , dragging their 
Victim with them, and passing in the earliest light 
of the dawn from Mount Sion to the Castle of An- 
tonia at the north-westerly corner of Mount Moriah, a 
distance of three-quarters of a mile. " And the whole 
multitude of them rising up, bound Jesus and led 
Him away, and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the 
Governor. They led Jesus from Caiphas to the gov- 
ernor's hall ; and it was morning. And they went 
not into the hall, that they might not be defiled, but 
that they might eat the Pasch." Their scruple did not 
refer to the eating of the paschal supper, for this 
had been done the evening before, but rather to the 
unleavened bread which was to be eaten until the 
festival days were over, a privilege which supposed 



JESUS BEFORE PI LA TE. 67$ 

legal cleanness : they feared defilement by entering 
the hall of Pilate and coming into the presence of 
pagan images. Rather, in truth, was their presence 
a defilement to the pagan Pilate. Even a false pagan 
is shamed by the company of apostate priests. 

Pontius Pilate is a name written high on the roll 
of infamy, written in Jesus' blood. His career in 
Judea had been miserable from the beginning. He 
got his office six years before these awful days, and 
by a series of blunders, all combining cruelty and 
cowardice, he had earned the distrust of Rome as 
well as the hatred of the Jews. These now hoped to 
have their sentence of death against Jesus ratified by 
the Governor and instantly executed. 

And what were the Saviour's thoughts as the 
perfidy of the Jews handed Him over to the cruelty 
of the pagans ? Always love. Jesus was the Messias 
of the Jews, and had been condemned by His own 
race through hatred and envy ; and yet, though He 
loved all men, He loved the Jews the most tenderly 
of all. He was now flung into the strong embrace of 
Rome, which was to weaken before this turbulent and 
threatening conspiracy and deliver Him to death ; 
and although Jesus loved all the Gentiles, He loved 
the Romans best, as the dominant people of the world, 
the most candid and manly and courageous people 
ever known. His love for both Jew and Roman never 
faltered. 

Pilate's instincts as a judicial cfficer dictated his 
first question to the chief priests. He "went out to 
them and said : What accusation bring you against 
this man ? " In reply they have the effrontery to de- 
mand a blind approval of their sentence against Jesus ; 
but Pilate retorts by bidding them assume the whole 
responsibility. 



676 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

The accusers of Jesus, though judges themselves, 
are insulted because Pilate asks for evidence before 
condemning their victim. "If He were not a male- 
factor, would we have brought Him before you? " — 
language which throws light backward on their own 
judicial proceedings. " They answered and said to 
him : If He were not a malefactor, we would not 
have delivered Him up to thee. Pilate said : Take 
Him you, and judge Him according to your law." 
But this meant either a hazardous infliction of the 
death penalty — a jurisdiction of which their courts had 
been deprived — or a punishment less than death. 
' ' The Jews therefore said to him : It is not lawful for 
us to put any man to death ; that the word of Jesus 
might be fulfilled, which He said, signifying what 
death He would die." Namely, the death of the 
cross, a Roman form of punishment reserved for 
slaves, and other criminals of low grade in the social 
order. Jesus was glad of this, for He chose to die 
the worst form of death, the most infamous, instigated 
by the most venomous hatred, that of the Jews ; in- 
vented by the most resistless despotism ever known, 
the implacable tyranny of the Roman Empire. 

Thrust back upon their proofs, the chief priests 
"began to accuse Him, saying: We have found this 
man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give 
tribute to Caesar, and saying, that He is Christ the 
King." Neither of these charges had any effect on 
Pilate. He knew from the daily reports of his sub- 
ordinates that there had been no recent sedition or 
attempt at one ; the tribute to Caesar, Pilate's chief 
official concern, had not been meddled with ; nor had 
any claimant to Jewish temporal royalty arisen. But 
as a demand for soldiers to quell some disturbance 
or other had been mace i^e previous evening ; and as 



ART THOU KING OF THE JEWS? 



677 



this prisoner was at that time arrested, Pilate felt it 
necessary to make at least a personal examination of 
the case. There is no manner of doubt that he was 
averse to blood-shedding at this particular moment, 
and for the obvious reason that the city was over- 
flowing with the most fervent and hence most excitable 
members of the whole Jewish race. Meantime, though 
he had while governor caused several bloody mas- 
sacres, it was for real or fancied reasons of state; there 
is no evidence to show that this miserable man was 
naturally blood-thirsty, and his dealing with the case 
of Jesus shows that he was by no means devoid of 
a sense of justice. The malignity of the high-priests 
far outranks any cruelty in this unfortunate Roman's 
disposition or conduct. But their desperate audacity 
in a bad cause brings into vivid contrast his shuffling 
cowardice. The violence of the lawless can have no 
better ally than the timidity of the magistrate. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

"art thou king of the jews? " 

Matt, xxvii. 11 ; Mark xv. 2 ; 
Luke xxiii. 3 ; John xviii. 33-38. 

Face to face stood Jesus and the 
Roman Governor. The trouble and 
sadness in the soul of the Redeemer 
cast a heavy gloom on His counte- 
nance, and His kindly but solemn 
glance at Pilate was as the rays of 
the sun rifting through dark clouds. 
Pilate met this with wavering. Al- 
though, out of complaisance to the 
Jews, he might be induced to find 



Pilate therefore went into the hall again, 
and called Jesus, and said to him : Art 
thou the king of the Jews ? Jesus answer- 
ed : Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or 
have others told it thee of me ? Pilate 
answered : Am I a Jew ? Thy own nation 
and the chief priests have delivered thee 
up to me : what hast thou done ? Jesus 
answered : My kingdom is not of this 
world. If my kingdom were of this world, 
my servants would certainly strive that I 
should not be delivered to the Jews: but 
now my kingdom is not from hence 
Pilate therefore said to him : Art thou a 
king then ? Jesus answered : Thou sayest, 
that I am a king. For this was I born, and 
for this came I into the world : that I 
should give testimony to the truth. Every 
one that is of the truth, heareth my voice. 
Pilate saith to him: What is truth ? And 
when he said this he went forth again to 
the Jews, and saith to them : I find no 
cause in him. 



678 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




kingdom is not of this 
world." 



Jesus guilty, yet he must take some sort of 
evidence before doing so. It is probable 
that the chief priests had given him the hint 
to question Jesus about a claim of kingship, 
as they had done concerning the Messias- 
ship. It would save time, they thought ; it 
would elicit the Saviour's frank avowal, and 
arouse the Roman's jealousy. Hence Jesus 
in His defence gave question for question : 
"Sayest thou this thing of thyself? " And 
hence Pilate's evasion: "Am I a Jew?" 
How lofty the scorn in that interrogatory ! 
But Pilate followed it up with a more prac- 
tical question : "Thy own nation and the 
chief priests have delivered Thee up to me. 
What hast Thou done ? ' ' He thus dismisses 
the question of kingship, which he perceives 
must be a spiritual or rather a theological 
one, and therefore a visionary matter to a 
practical Roman mind. But Jesus held him 
to it, and after showing that His claim to 
kingship had no worldly significance, He in- 
sisted upon His sovereignty, His real king- 
ship, over men's minds: "My kingdom is 
not of this world." Pilate's curiosity about 
such things was feeble, but he asked, "Art 
thou a king then ? ' ' Upon which Jesus 
made His royal proclamation: "Thou say- 
est that I am a king. For this was I born, 
and for this came I into the world, that I 
should give testimony to the truth." By 
birth and lineage as the Incarnate Word of God and 
the Light of the World He was the head master of 
God's School and the intellectual monarch of the hu- 
man race. One piercing word He added: "Every 



ART THOU KING OF THE JEWS?" 



679 



one that is of the truth heareth My voice." Pilate 
had possibly dabbled a little in philosophy, but he was 
a pagan, and he answered as if he were also a 
sceptic : ' ' What is truth ? ' ' 

No one was so well fitted as Jesus to answer that 
question, for He had said before li I am the 
truth." But Pilate did not want to talk 
philosophy (so he must have considered it), 
but only to be rid of Jesus and the clamoring 
Jews. Therefore he went out to the chief 
priests and stated his acquittal of 
victim; he did it emphatically an 
hoped, finally: "I find no cause 
Him," exclaimed the Roman juc 
How different would his fate have b 
had he but had the courage to 
stand to that righteous sen- 
tence ! 

When our Saviour said to 
Pilate, " My kingdom is not of 
this world," the Roman could 
hardly have understood Him, 
though he felt vaguely that this 

explanation exempted Jesus from his jurisdiction, as 
the Romans knew of no other kingdom but an earthly 
one. There are not a few monarchs and other rulers 
who agree with Pilate, and yet will not suffer the 
Church of Jesus Christ to exercise or even to claim 
spiritual jurisdiction. 




"What is truth?" 



68o LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 

PILATE SENDS JESUS TO HEROD 

Matt, xxvii. 12-14. ; Mark xv. 3—5; Luke xxiii. 4-16. 

The chief priests were thunderstruck by this de- 
cision of the governor. Instantly " they accused 
[Jesus] in many things." The Saviour was then 
ordered forth to confront His accusers ; but He re- 
fused to defend Himself further. "And when He 
was accused by the chief priests and ancients He an- 
swered nothing. Then Pilate saith to Him : Dost 
Thou not hear how great testimonies they allege 
against Thee ? And He answered him to never 
a word, so that the governor wondered exceedingly. " 
He could not understand why Jesus, having in him 
a judge inclined to be favorable, yet made no defence, 
no counter charges against His enemies. But, even 
so, Pilate was loath to yield to the conspirators. He 
said again ' ( to the chief priests and to the multitude : 
I find no cause in this Man. But they were the more 
earnest, saying : He stirreth up the people, teaching 
throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this 
place. But Pilate hearing of Galilee, asked if the 
Man were a Galilean. And when he understood that 
He was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him away to 
Herod, who was also himself in Jerusalem in those 
days." 

Instantly had Pilate found his opportunity in the 
word Galilee — Herod must judge this case, Herod 
the Tetrarch of Galilee. True, Pilate was aware that 
his own court had jurisdiction, but so had Herod's, 
for jurisdiction came from the domicile of the culprit 
as well as from the locality of the crime he was accused 
of committing. Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee, 



PILA TE SENDS JESUS TO HEROD. 681 

had a residence in Jerusalem and was now present for 
the Passover, for he pretended to believe in the 
Hebrew faith. Pilate would force him, the murderer 
of the Baptist, a sensualist and a scoffer, but yet 
nominally a member of the Jewish religion, to make 
the final disposition of the Prisoner. 

The heart of Rome was wolfish. The myth which 
told of its founders having been suckled by a she 
wolf was all too truly indicative of the pitiless Roman 
spirit ; and Pilate had often shown the usual cruelty 
of his race. But he was not wantonly cruel, and he 
resented the attempt of the Jews to force him to kill 
Jesus. As to Herod, whom our Saviour himself had 
called "that fox," he was as cruel but more crafty 
than the Roman wolf. 

By Herod's cunning, hidden behind his buffoonery, 
and Pilate's impatience under compulsion, the fierce 
malignity of the Jews was for the moment baffled. 
Meantime the Saviour suffered many pangs of mental 
anguish and bodily pain while dragged along the pub- 
lic streets between the Roman garrison and Herod's 
palace, a distance of nearly a mile. The Jewish con- 
spirators hurried Him back and forth, the hour being 
now about seven in the morning, devouring Him with 
their hatred and hotly debating among themselves 
what course to follow to finally destroy Him. 

Herod probably believed not a word of the charges 
against Jesus. At any rate he re- 
fused to condemn Him to death. 
But constraining himself to think 
him no more than a skilful juggler 
under a religious craze, he would 
coax Him to give a performance. 
Jesus refused to answer a single 
word ; He utterly ignored Herod. 



And Herod, seeing; Jesus, was glad, for 
he was desirous of a long time to see him, 
because he had heard many things of him, 
and he hoped to see some sign wrought by 
him. And he questioned him in many 
words. But he answered him nothing. 
And the chief priests and the scribes stood 
by earnestly accusing him And Herod 
with his army set him at naught, and 
mocked him, putting on him a white gar- 
ment, and sent him back to Pilate. 



682 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



Irritated at this, and noticing the accusation of the 
claim of kingship, Herod bade his military escort 
make sport of Jesus, and then returned Him to 
Pilate clothed in mockery with a white garment, 
which may have been a sort of toga. The two rulers 
had recently been at enmity ; possibly because Pilate 
had slaughtered a number of Galileans some time 
before. ' ' And Herod and Pilate were made friends 
together that same day, for before they were ene- 
mies one to another." They now exchanged peace- 
ful messages and compliments by means of their 
prisoner's escort ; Jesus was thus a mediator of 
peace even between these two most atrocious sinners. 
Pilate's sole purpose was to rid himself of the 
embarrassment which the chief priests had thrust on 
him. All he gained was peace with Herod : war 
with his own conscience and with the Jews was 
still raging. He placated a personal enemy, but he 
paid dearly for it. Jesus was still to be disposed 
41 Herod mocked Him ! " of, the Jews were still to be managed. 

Herod's conduct was characteristic. As the false 
Roman magistrate treats Jesus with cowardly subser- 
vience, and as the murderous fanatics treat Him with 
cruelty, so the sensualist prince treats Him with levity 
and derision. Jesus had never sought the courts of 
princes; rather He had preached His Gospel to the 
poor. His sermon to Herod and His court on this 
the only time He had a royal audience was patient 
silence. Some of the saintliest of His followers have 
been of kingly station, and have aided religion with 
regal generosity ; but Herod was of the bad sort of 
kings, and was glad to mock at religion's Founder and 
Author. 

This Man of divine words, who had been inces- 
santly teaching day and night for three years, is ab- 




PILOT SENDS JESUS TO HEROD, 683 

solutely silent before Herod, a fact most suggestive 
of his unworthiness. If the door is shut to the light- 
minded and foolish virgins, the door of instruction is 
much rather shut to the flippant and licentious Herod. 
The silence of God is as terrible as His threatening ; 
even more so, for all threatening is a call to re- 
pentance. But the pain of loss is the pain of God's 
eternal silence. But, as we have seen, Herod treated 
our Saviour's silence as stupidity, and piqued at his 
failure to extort either preaching or miracles from 
Him, he ordered a fool's garment to be put on Him; 
and thus clothed Jesus is led back to Pilate, with 
Herod's compliments.* 

The soul of Jesus, though oppressed with grief, 
was calm and patient as He stood before Pilate, just 
as the latter' s soul was in a tumult of conflicting 
emotions, honor being in the death struggle with 
cowardice. Pilate stiffened his courage for another 
attempt at getting rid of the case : he offered the 
chief priests to have the Prisoner flogged — disgrace 
enough and pain enough — and then to discharge Him. 
"And Pilate, calling together the chief priests and 
the magistrates and the people, said to them: You 
have presented unto me this Man as one that per- 
verteth the people, and behold I, having examined 
Him before you, find no cause in this Man, in those 
things wherein you accuse Him ; no, nor Herod 
neither ; for I sent you to him, and behold nothing 
worthy of death is done to Him. I will chastise 
Him, therefore, and release Him." 

Up to this Pilate had only temporized. So far 

*This is not the only time that making a fool of Christ and His 
Church has been the means of reconciliation and the basis of treaties be- 
tween princes, as witness the robbery and mockery of the Holy See these 
recent times, concocted and carried out by Napoleon the Third and Victor 
Emmanuel. 



684 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

his sin was that of a grave enough offence, omission ; 
for he should have instantly released Jesus and pro- 
tected Him against His enemies. Now he is guilty 
of the positive injustice of offering to scourge an un- 
convicted prisoner, nay, a man whom he had pub- 
licly proclaimed innocent. 

The Jews therefore saw that they had gained a 
point. To a Roman governor, hardened to blood- 
shed and thinking little of the life of any Jew, inno- 
cent or guilty, the step from an unjust scourging to 
an unjust crucifixion must be a short one. So rea- 
soned the Jewish conspirators, and took heart. How- 
ever, they were again hindered and delayed by an- 
other expedient of Pilate. 




Scourge used in time of 
Christ. 



CHAPTER XUX. 

" BARABBAS OR JESUS? " — PILATE'S WIFE'S DREAM. — 
' ' CRUCIFY HIM ! ' ' 

Matt, xxvii. 15-26 ; Mark xv. 6-15 ; Lukexxiii. ij-24.; 
John xviii. 39-4.0; xix. 1. 

It happened that there was a prisoner in Pilate's 
custody named Barabbas. Besides being a rob- 
ber, he had been leader of a petty rebellion, 
which had also involved him in the crime of 
murder. Having been sentenced to death, his 
friends had petitioned for his release, a boon to 
be granted in honor of the Passover. But 
he was to owe his life to the rebellion of 
the Jewish priesthood against Jesus, their 
Messias and King. To Pilate the petition 
for the giving up of Barabbas was a coward's 
opportunity, for, thought he, I will offer to 
release Jesus as an alternative, and Jesus will 



BARABBAS OR JESUS? 



685 



have friends enough to make a 
strong claim for Him, especially 
when I give Him my preference. 
But this craven trick failed, as had 
the previous one of sending Jesus 
to Herod. The mob shouted in 
favor of Barabbas. The robber and 
murderer had more friends and 
truer ones at his command than 
had the Saviour. Meantime the 
chief priests were gathering the 
multitudes, adding thereby mob- 
power to their other influences 
over the vacillating Roman judge. 

The acclaim of the people in 
favor of Barabbas and in preference 
to Christ adds the fickleness of 
the multitude to the malignity of 
the Jewish rulers and the cowardice 
of the Roman judge as a factor in our Saviour's 
condemnation. It added, also, a vast weight to the 
load already oppressing the Victim's divine Heart, 
for He had ever loved the people by preference. 
Yet there was one drop of comfort in the sea of 
misery, for if He was grieved that the people rejected 
Him, He was glad that poor Barabbas was thereby 
saved from death. 

While Pilate was thus beset, a preternatural mes- 
sage came to him through his wife. "As he was 
sitting in the place of judgment, his wife sent to 
him, saying : Have thou nothing to do with that 
just Man, for I have suffered many things this day 
in a dream because of Him." Pilate, we may sur- 
mise, was no more a believer in the heathen gods 
than the generality of his class ; but all men believed 



Now upon the solemn day, the governor 
was accustomed of necessity to release to 
the people one prisoner, whom they would. 
And he had then a notorious prisoner 
that was called Barabbas, who was put in 
prison with some seditious men, who in the 
sedition had committed murder. And 
when the multitude had come up, they be- 
gan to desire that he would do as he had 
ever done unto them. They therefore be- 
ing gathered together, Pilate said : Whom 
will you that I release to you, Barabbas, or 
Jesus, that is called Christ ? For he knew 
that the chief priests had delivered him up 
out of envy. But the chief priests and an- 
cients persuaded the people, that they 
should ask Barabbas, and make Jesus 
away. And the governor answering, said 
to them : Whether will you of the two to 
be released unto you ? But the whole 
multitude together cried out, saying: 
Away with this man, and release unto us 
Barabbas. And Barabbas was a robber. 
So Pilate, being willing to satisfy the peo- 
ple, gave sentence that it should be as they 
required. And he released unto them 
Barabbas, him who for murder and sedi- 
tion had been cast into prison, whom they 
had desired. 



686 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




'Crucify Him!" 



And Pilate again spoke to them, desir- 
ing to release Jesus : What will you then 
that I do to the King of the Jews -Jesus, 
that is called Christ ? But they cried again, 
saying: Crucify him, crucify him. And 
Pilate said to them the third time : Why, 
what evil hath this man done ? I find no 
cause of death in him ; I will chastise him, 
therefore, and let him go. But they were 
instant with loud voices, requiring that he 
might be crucified, and their voices pre- 
vailed. And Pilate, seeing that he pre- 
vailed nothing, but that rather a tumult 
was made, taking water, washed his hands 
before the people, saying : I am innocent 
of the blood of this just man ; look you to 
it. And the whole people answering said : 
His blood be upon us and upon our chil- 
dren. So Pilate, being willing to satisfy 
the people, gave sentence that it should be 
as they required. 



in the miraculous, and this protest from 
the world of visions must have added to 
his uneasiness. 

He fought on, therefore, with his 
coward's fight for Jesus. And at this 
point Pilate's guilt takes on a deeper 
shade, for he appeals to his own sub- 
jects and to the enemies of Jesus for 
guidance. It was a contest between a 
timid defender and a raging foe. "And 
Pilate again spoke to them, desiring to 
release Jesus : What will you then that 
I do to the King of the Jews — Jesus, 
that is called Christ ? ' ' He receives his 
orders instantly : ' ' Crucify Him ! ' ' 

Pilate's appeal was an open bid for 
the Saviour's supporters to speak out 
in His favor. It failed utterly. " But 
they cried again, saying : Crucify Him, 
crucify Him. And Pilate said to them 
the third time : Why, what evil hath 
this Man done ? I find no cause of 
death in Him ; I will chastise Him, 
therefore, and let Him go. But 
they were instant with loud voices, 
requiring that He might be cruci- 
fied, and their voices prevailed." 

Pilate then surrendered. But yet 
he wished to soothe his remorse, 
and therefore he gave to the world 
the pitiful spectacle of washing his 
hands of blame for Jesus' death. 
''And Pilate, seeing that he pre- 
vailed nothing, washed his hands 
before the people, saying : I am in- 



"CRUCIFY HIM!" 



687 



I nocent of the blood of this just Man ; look you to it." 
! When Pilate washed his hands of the blood of Jesus 
1 he consecrated his self-deception by an act of cere- 
monious mummery. 

This drew forth the most awful self- imprecation 
recorded in history : " And the whole people answer- 
ing said : His blood be upon us and upon our chil- 
j dren." Pilate had trembled at the thought 
J of Jesus' blood being spattered upon his 
hands, but the Jews only gloated over the 
thought of its being upon their souls and 
1 upon their race for ever. The anathema of 
their self-cursing is yet upon this hapless 
and blinded people. But who can describe 
the feelings of Jesus as He heard those aw- 
ful words : " His blood be upon us. Crucify 
Him! Crucify Him! " 

Thus it was that the chief priests won 
their case before Rome's cowardly judge. 
Their persistence was stronger than his 
sense of justice, their hate conquered his re- 
luctance to Shed innocent blood. "Barabbas or Jesus?" 

Pilate is an example of a safe, a statesmanlike, a 
moderate character, managing a difficult case and 
tidi?ig over an awkward predicament. 





688 



'LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



CHAPTER I,. 

JESUS IS SCOURGED AND CROWNED WITH THORNS. 
— " BEHOLD THE MAN ! " 

Matt, xxvii. 26-30 ; Mark xv. 15-19 ; Luke xxiii. 25 ; 
John xix. r-5. 

"But Jesus, when he had scourged Him, he i 
delivered up to their will to be crucified." The j 
tongues of the Jews crying " Crucify 
Him! " had pierced the soul of Jesus 
with a poisoned arrow. It was now ] 
Rome's turn; Pilate ordered Him to be 
flogged. The Roman whips tore His 
flesh from His bones, as the Jewish 
tongues had torn the tenderest emo- 
tions of His soul. 

The sacred narrative gives no de- ! 
tails of this scourging, which was an 
ordinary preliminary to crucifixion. 
That form of execution, like many 
others of ancient times, was really 
gradual torturing of the prisoner to 
death ; first flogging, then nailing to 
a cross in a public place, finally the 
breaking of the bones and the piercing 
of the heart, all being the punishment 
of low-caste criminals. Jesus, born in 
a stable, reared in a rustic cottage, edu- 
cated in a country carpenter's work- 
shop — Jesus, whose church was built 
upon peasants and fishermen, could accept and gladly 
did accept the form of death allotted to rebellious 
slaves and to murderous footpads. 

This Roman flogging usually meant almost flaying 




SCOURGED AND CROWNED WITH THORNS. 689 

alive. The prisoner was stripped naked and bound 
in a stooping position so that his skin might be 
stretched tight to receive the strokes ; these were given 
with thin rods or leather thongs armed with leaden 
balls. We may easily conjecture the cruelty of the 
imperial soldiers in scourging Jesus, urged on by the 
ravening fury of the chief priests. No voice of pity 
is heard, no plea for mercy, as the strokes fall upon 
our Saviour's shrinking form. 

The scourging over, there followed an interval of 
quiet. Pilate, perhaps, was beating 
about for other means of saving 
Jesus. But the soldiers, amused 
with the thought of some sort of 
a Jewish king being at their mercy, 
employed the time in making a play 
of Him and of His royalty, the 
chief priests standing by and enjoy- 
ing the scene. Jesus' garments had 



Then the soldiers of the governor, taking 
Jesus into the hall, gathered together unto 
them the whole band, and stripping him, 
they clothe him with purple. And platting 
a crown of thorns, they put it upon his 
head, and a reed in his right hand. And 
bowing the knee before him, they began to 
salute him They worshipped him and 
mocked him, saying : Hail, King of the 
Jews. And spitting upon him, they took 
the reed and struck his head and they gave 
him blows. 



been replaced on His bleeding body after the scourging. 
But in an instant He is stripped again, and a soldier's 
cast-off cloak is tied about Him. But they must have 
a crown for Him'; and as a chaplet of green leaves, 
laurel, ivy or oak, was a common adornment of Roman 
heroes, hence a suggestion in the minds of His tor- 
mentors for this king's crown of derision. A neigh- 
boring hedge furnishes a thorn branch, and this is 
twisted into a chaplet and forced down upon His 
temples, and for a sceptre a reed thrust into His 
manacled right hand. It was the terrible torment of 
the night before repeated upon a far weaker victim. 
Pilate would have hindered this indignity had 
Jesus appealed to him. But He made no appeal. He 
was mindful of His prophet's words foretelling His 
future vindication and His everlasting sovereignty : 



690 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




11 I looked, therefore, in the vision 
of the night, and behold, one like 
the Son of Man came with the 
clouds of heaven ; and He came 
even to the Ancient of days; and 
they presented Him before Him. 
And He gave Him power and 
glory and a kingdom ; and all 
peoples, tribes, and tongues shall 
serve Him. His power is an ever- 
lasting power that shall not be 
taken away ; and His Kingdom 
one that shall not be destroyed" 
(Daniel vii. 13, 14). 

But as yet Jesus is only a king 

in caricature. They now bend 

their knees in mockery before 

Him. But in course of time, and 

by reason exactly of this awful humiliation, to Jesus 

every knee shall bend in absolute submission, whether 

in earth, in heaven, or in hell. 

But if this base and cruel treatment of Jesus amused 
the soldiers and added to the frenzied triumph 
of the Jewish conspirators, it was otherwise with 
Pilate. When he again saw the poor Victim he 
was shocked. He ordered Him brought forth — 
tradition says upon a balcony overlooking the 
outer court, which was now filled with the 
multitude; and he made another effort to re- 
lease Him. "Pilate therefore went forth 
again, and saith to them : Behold I 
bring Him forth unto you, that you 
may know that I find no cause in 
Him. (Jesus therefore came forth 
They mocked Him. »~~ bearing the crown of thorns and the 






The Fifth Station of the Via Dolorosa. 



PILA TES FINAL STRUGGLE. 691 

purple garment.) And he saith to them: Behold 
the Man! " 

Behold the Man, ye Jews ! your Man from the 
foundation of the world. Behold the Man, who with 
the suffering of a mortal Man is entirely given up 
to loving sacrifice for you, and with the love of an 
immortal Man is eternally devoted to you, and basely 
rejected by you. 



• CHAPTER 1,1. . 

PILATE'S FINAL STRUGGLE. — THE DEATH-SENTENCE. 
Luke xxiii. 24. ; John xix. j-16. 

Pilate's compassion was doubtless sincere, even 
though it could not overcome his baser motives, and 
there is evidence that many in the crowd were shocked 
at the appearance of Jesus, wrapped in a torn and 
faded cloak, His hands bound, His head crowned with 
thorns, His face streaked with blood. Only the chief 
priests and their attendants are said in the gospel 
narrative to have kept on shouting for His death. 
" When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants 
had seen Him, they cried out, saying : Crucify Him ! 
Crucify Him ! ' ' Pilate hoped to win upon the crowd 
still further by throwing the responsibility of the im- 
pending murder upon them and their leaders : ' ' Pilate 
saith to them : Take Him you and crucify Him, for I 
find no cause in Him. The Jews answered him : We 
have a law, and according to the law He ought to 
die because He made Himself the Son of God." 

This was a new charge ; the others, namely, re- 
fusing to pay tribute, inciting rebellion, and setting 
Himself up to be king, Pilate had already dismissed. 
But here is a strictly religious case. Rome assumed 



692 LIFE OF yESUS CHRIST. 

to protect the Jewish people in their religious rights, 
and here come their chief priests and accuse this 
strange being of actually claiming to be their God : a 
serious matter and a new difficulty. " When Pilate 
therefore had heard this saying he feared the more." 
What did he fear? To deliver Jesus up to execution, 
or to insist further on His innocence ? Probably the 
former. He made another private examination of his 
prisoner. "And he entered into the hall again, and 
he said to Jesus : Whence art Thou ? But Jesus gave 
him no answer. Pilate therefore saith to Him : Speak- 
est Thou not to me ? Knowest Thou not that I have 
power to crucify Thee, and I have power to release 
Thee ? Jesus answered : Thou shouldst not have any 
power against Me, unless it were given thee from 
above. Therefore, he that hath delivered Me to 
thee hath the greater sin. And from henceforth Pilate 
sought to release Him." 

Nothing can be more unsatisfactory than the at- 
tempt to trace the motives of Pilate through all these 
proceedings — fear and obstinacy, superstition and pro- 
crastination. But the strong words of Jesus had some 
kind of effect on him. Our L,ord would not waste 
words on the question of His divinity before this ob- 
durate pagan, but He calmly points out Pilate's re- 
sponsibility to the sovereign majesty of God for the 
exercise of his power over his prisoner's life. 

But the Jews knew their man ; they knew Pilate 
better than he knew himself. Caesar was the spell 
to lay on him, the gloomy Tiberius, the ruthless and 
irresponsible monarch of the world. "But the Jews 
cried out, saying : If thou release this man thou art 
not Caesar's friend; for whosoever maketh himself 
a king, speaketh against Caesar." The thought of 
the despot's ire covered the conscience of the Roman 



THE DEA TH-SENTENCE. 693 

as with a pall. "Now when Pilate had heard these 
words, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the 
judgment seat, in the place that is called Lithostrotas, 
and in Hebrew Gabbatha. And it was the parasceve 
of the Pasch, about the sixth hour." One word more 
he then said, a last appeal he made as if in despair, 
to Jesus' friends to speak, out for him. It failed. It 
but reopened the throats of His bloodthirsty enemies : 
"And he saith to the Jews : Behold your king ! But 
they cried out : Away with Him ! Away with Him ! 
Crucify Him ! Pilate saith to them : Shall I crucify 
yonr king ? The chief priests answered : We have 
no king but Caesar. And Pilate gave sentence that 
their petition should be granted. Then, therefore, 
he delivered Him to them to be crucified." 

The place at which the awful sentence was at last 
wrung from Pilate was about three hundred feet east- 
ward from the Ecce-Homo balcony. It was in the 
regular court room, and Pilate sat down in the Roman 
curule chair and delivered his judgment upon Jesus. 
The time was now near mid-day. 

The perfection of all perfidy is in this assemblage 
of hate and cowardice, contrasted with our Saviour's 
patience and love. But what a dreadful deed was 
that of the Jews in exclaiming : ' ' We have no king 
but Caesar ? " a solemn and irrevocable abdication of 
their divinely given princedom over the nations. 

Thus it was that death came to Jesus and was 
by Him silently and freely accepted. Since we know 
that one lightest pang of suffering would suffice for 
our redemption, then we may inquire why it is that 
Jesus suffered death, and a death of such multiplied 
agony? "Because," as St. Peter tells us, "Christ 
also suffered for us, leaving you an example that 
you should follow His steps" (I. Peter ii. 21). 



694 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



For an example of the overflowing measure of love, 
so that His daily precepts of the hatefulness of sin 
and the loveworthiness of immortal souls might be 
sealed with His blood. The crucifixion is the rigor 
of the divine justice upon sin, and the fulness of the 
divine love for sinners. The cross alone gives us a 
right knowledge of God and sin, of hell and the 
worth of the soul. 




' ' Women who "be- 
wailed and lamented 



CHAPTER HI. 

THK WAY OF THE CROSS. 

Matt, xxvii. 31-32 ; Mark xv. 20 > 21 ; Luke xxiii. 26-32 ; 
John xix. 16, 17. 

"And the soldiers took Jesus, and they took off 
the purple cloak from Him, and put His own gar- 
ments on Him, and they led Him away to crucify 
Him." And thus Jesus began His journey to Cal- 
vary, His body dreadfully bruised and dripping blood, 
His eyes full of tears, His heart more heavily 
laden with grief than His shoulders with the 
'And bearing His own Cross He went 
forth." They had given Him back His 
clothes, and now they completed His 
S^% equipment for His last battle — He was 
armed with the Cross He had so great- 
ly feared and so ardently loved. It had shadowed 
His cradle, it had darkened every hour of His ex- 
istence. We may fancy how He reverenced it 
and kissed it and embraced it ; hard as its edges 
sank into His back, heavily as its weight crushed 
Him down, He loved it and bore it gladly. Leader 
ol sinners up the mountain of God, He was fitly 
followed by the two thieves. ''And there were 



THE WA Y OF THE CROSS, 



695 



also two other malefactors led with Him to be put 
to death." So began our Redeemer's Way of the 
Cross. 

The love of Jesus for sinners confounds human 
reason. For consider the effect of His now accept- 
ing His death-sentence, and taking up the instrument 
of it and carrying it to the place of execution. As 
Jesus took His cross, He willingly became to the 
multitude, to that congress of the nations repre- 
sented by the Jews of the Dispersion now assembled 
for the Passover, the greatest criminal in the whole 
world. He was condemned by His own race and re- 
ligion, given up to justice by His own chosen friend 
and apostle, denied even as an acquaintance by the 
primate of His brotherhood, and forthwith to be exe- 
cuted by the Roman governor. The very Ruler of 
the universe disowns Him, and curses Him, as it 
would seem, and will hide the face of the sun from 
His dying eyes, and the senseless earth will shudder 
with horror at His guilt. Here must be the uni- 
versal sinner, men might say ; the quintessence of 
human guilt is in this man. And it is true, but not 
by personal guilt, only by the imputation of others' 
guilt accepted for love's sake ; only by the atonement 
of an unspeakably tender sympathy. Jesus under 
the cross has taken the place of all sinners under the 
divine malediction. Thus it is that our sins were the 
cause of His death. "He was wounded for our ini- 
quities, He was bruised for our sins" (Isaias liii. 5). 

It was soon evident that Jesus was too weak to 
carry His Cross alone ; this was shown, doubtless, 
by His falling under it. " And as they led Him away, 
they laid hold on one Simon of Cyrene coming from 
the country, the father of Alexander and of Rufus. 
Him they forced to take up His cross. And they 




ON TO CALVARY. 



6 9 6 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




Wk 



• [;--•■■■*;• ■--••^..♦•^.'>«r ; 




"Weep not for Me." 

he afterwards knew himself! 



laid the cross on him to carry after Jesus." 
The chief priests may have directed the 
Roman officer in command of the detach- 
ment of soldiers to seize Simon, a simple 
countryman viewing from the wayside the 
poor Victim's misery, and doubtless pity- 
ing Him. It is probable that Simon did 
not take the entire burden, but eased and 
assisted the Lord after He had recovered 
from His first fall. Among all the dif- 
ferent associates of our Saviour this aw- 
ful day, there is none whom Christians 
would rather envy than Simon of Cyrene ; 
w T hat a privilege he enjoyed ! How little 
compulsion he would have needed had 
he only known all that we know, all that 



Thus assisted the Saviour started on again. Though 
the exact line of this sad procession can hardly be 
traced in our day, yet it is well enough agreed that 
it probably moved from a point several hundred feet 
east of the Kcce-Homo archway and balcony, the sol- 
diers leading and surrounding the three prisoners. 
Each one bore his cross, and also a placard hanging 
about his neck, which told in black letters the crime 
for which he was to be crucified. Their weary way 
is first westward, along a street now called Sitti 
Mariani. As they turned southward, at the corner of 
a street now called El-Wad, there was a halt, for 
Jesus, although helped by Simon, had again fallen 
under His cross. They raised Him up and He moved 
onward, the compact ranks of the soldiers forcing a 
way through the dense crowd that rolled in upon 
them from every side. A venerable and most credible 
tradition tells us that while passing southward in the 



THE WA Y OF THE CROSS. 697 

street El- Wad Jesus met and exchanged greetings 
with His sorrowing Mother. It is also universally 
believed that somewhere on this journey a loving ser- 
vice was done Jesus by a devout woman, named Veron- 
ica or Berenice, who pushed her way in to Him and 
wiped the sweat and blood from His haggard face, 
which was miraculously pictured upon her towel. 

Neither of these two meetings is recorded in the 
Gospels, only the impressment of Simon,* and the 
meeting with a band of Jewish wo- 
men, among whom we may be sure 
His mother was present. These 
Jesus spoke to, probably after again 
turning westward and passing be- 
yond the city wall. Their Oriental 
wail of sorrow and of sympathy ar- 
rested progress and gave Jesus a 
moment's rest. He used it to divert 
their attention from His own suffer- 



And there followed him a great multi- 
tude of people, and of women who bewail- 
ed and lamented him. But Jesus turning 
to them, said : Daughters of Jerusalem, 
weep not over me, but weep for yourselves, 
and for your children. For behold the days 
shall come, wherein they will say : Blessed 
are the barren, and the wombs that have 
not borne, and the paps that have not given 
suck. Then shall they begin to say to the 
mountains : Fall upon us ; and to the hills: 
Cover us. For if in the green wood they 
do these things, what shall be done in the 
dry ? 



ings and to direct their tearful souls to praying for 
the doomed city and its inhabitants. Doubtless His 
looks thanked them for their affectionate sympathy and 
their tears. But He is a teacher to the last ; and for- 
getting Himself He helps them in their awful duty of 
intercession for their race-kindred by a brief and sin- 
gularly powerful admonition. Tradition tells of an- 
other fall of Jesus soon after meeting and addressing 
the women, but the actual route followed immediately 
beyond the old city wall is now occupied by dwelling 
houses. 

Thus Jesus passes out of the gate of Jerusalem, 

* Simon was a Jew of the Dispersion, come to Jerusalem for the Pass- 
over solemnities. He was doubtless terribly shocked and scared by being 
forced to help carry the Cross. As a reward he and his sons became con- 
verts and, it is believed, afterwards preached Christ emeified in Spain,, 



6 9 8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



bearing away from the Holy City its holiness for ever. 
He will bestow holiness among the nations from out- 
side the city and enthroned on His mount of painful 
merit. The prophet had invited the nations to as- 
semble there: " Come to the mountain of the Lord! " 
(Isaias ii. 3). Henceforward it is not Mount Sion 
but Mount Calvary that is the mountain of the Lord. 




CHAPTER LIU. 

THE CRUCIFIXION. THE INSCRIPTION. — "FATHER, 

FORGIVE THEM ! " 

Matt, xxvii. 33-38 ; Mark xv. 22-28 ; Luke xxiii. 33-38; 
John xix. 17-22. 

The carrying of the cross, coming as it did after 
so very many deadly pains, was one of our Saviour's 
hardest sufferings ; after the agony and 
bloody sweat in the garden, the betrayal, 
the double trial before the high-priests, 
the sorrowful night among the Jews and 
the soldiers, the sad dawn of day before 
Pilate, packed off to Herod and hurried 
back again to Pilate, cruelly flogged, 
cruelly crowned, brutally buffeted, and 
finally condemned — no wonder that He 
fell three times on the way to Calvary, 
and that it may have seemed to Him like 
going to rest to be stripped and laid upon the Cross. 
But what a couch of rest was this ! And how cruel 
a stripping ! since His clothes must have adhered to 
His torn flesh. If Jesus "began to be heavy" — 
|\ that is, weary — even in the garden, how worn out 
must He not have been now ! 

He had finally been brought to the place of exe- 



THE CRUCIFIXION. 



699 



And they bring him into the place called 
Golgotha, which being interpreted, is the 
place of Calvary. And they gave him to 
drink wine, mingled with myrrh. And 
when he had tasted he would not drink. 
And it was the third hour. And they cruci- 
fied him, and with him they crucified the 
robbers, one on the right hand, and the 
other on the left, and Jesus in the midst. 
And the Scripture was fulfilled which 
saith : And with the wicked he was reputed. 
And Jesus said : Father, forgive them, for 
they know not what they do. And Pilate 
wrote a title also— the inscription of his 
cause -and he put it upon the Cross, over 
his head. And the writing was : Jesus of 
Nazareth, King of the Jews. This title, 
therefore, many of the Jews did read, be- 
cause the place where Jesus was crucified 
was nigh to the city, and it was written in 
Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. Then 
the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate : 
Write not, The King of the Jews, but 
that : He said, I am the King of the Jews. 
Pilate answered : What I have written, 
I have written. 



cution. This was a stony hill, 
named from its shape Golgotha or 
Calvary, "the place of the skull." 

What first happened was that 
they "gave Him to drink wine, 
mingled with myrrh." The expla- 
nation of this is that it was the 
custom of charitable women of the 
city to provide a drug mingled with 
wine for men about to be executed, 
in order to dull the frightful agony 
of their death. "And when He had 
tasted He would not drink." The 
only opiate of Jesus was love for 
sinners mingled with submission to 
His Father's will. 

It is now ' ' the third hour, ' ' or 
about noon-day. Jesus is stripped of His garments, 
and the brutal soldiers cast Him down upon His Cross. 
They stretch out His arms and nail Him fast to the 
wood, the nails crushing through His gentle hands, 
and His zealous, loving feet. 

"And they crucified Him. And with Him they 
crucified the robbers, one on the right hand and the 
other on the left, and Jesus in the midst. And the 
Scripture was fulfilled which saith : And with the 
wicked He was reputed."'' Thus at last He was lifted 
up hanging on His gibbet. And His first act was to 
make His Cross a pulpit from which to preach for- 
giveness. 

For the first words He heard were the insults of 
His enemies : Vah ! Vah ! Save Thyself. " And Jesus 
said : Father, forgive them, for they know not what 
they do." In the entire Gospel of Mercy there is no 
such miracle of love as this plea of Jesus for His mur- 



7oo LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

derers, the plea that they are to be pardoned because 
they are ignorant. And that it is a true plea is hard 
to understand, for these men should know Jesus, for 
they knew the Scriptures by heart ; and yet their igno- 
rance is dense enough to be their Advocate's main 
argument for their forgiveness ! Knowledge, indeed, 
puffeth up, says the Apostle ; and so their knowledge 
but ministered to their pride, as oil lights the lamp 
treacherously placed to misguide the wayfarer. 

It may be that a cord was passed about the body 
of the Lord to fasten Him more securely to the cross, 
or drawn about His shoulders and arms ; at any rate, 
He hung there firmly fixed to a symbol of shame, 
which since then has been better loved by all gener- 
ous souls than monarchs love their thrones. Did Jesus 
yet wear His royal crown of thorns ? No mention is 
made of this in the sacred narrative, but a constant 
tradition has guided Christian art in placing it on 
His head in pictures and images of the Crucifixion. 
The spirit of His enemies leads us to suppose that their 
derision would go thus far and force the thorns into 
His brow before raising the cross. 

There, then, hung Jesus between two thieves. It 
would have been hardly possible to have given His 
downfall greater ignominy or greater publicity. He 
was crucified at the geographical centre of the known 
world, and it was the Holy Place of God's people ; it 
was also the cross-roads of commerce and travel be- 
tween the three continents. The great deed required 
but one thing more to publish it to the nations. " And 
Pilate wrote a title also, the inscription of His cause, 
and he put it upon the cross, over His head. And the 
writing was : Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. 
This title, therefore, many of the Jews did read, be- 
cause the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to 



THE INSCRIPTION. 701 

the city, and it was written in 



Greek and L,atin and Hebrew let- 



^WiW 



" This was a singular thing for ^^^^^ ^M»^^J 
Pilate to do, and indicates his real 

belief in the Messianic kingship of TITLE OVER THE CROSS - 

Jesus over the Jews. It had offended them ; and they 
had interfered, though vainly, to prevent it. When 
Jesus was starting to Calvary Pilate gave out the 
words for the placard to be hung around His neck 
while on the way. " Then the chief priests of the 
Jews said to Pilate : Write not, The King of the 
Jews, but that : He said, I am the King of the Jews. 
Pilate answered : What I have written, I have 
written." No less than twelve different times did 
Pontius Pilate plead for Jesus, only to yield as often 
to his own fears and the Jews' rage, never to stand his 
ground like a Roman. And now when the deed was 
done he obstinately fought for his placard — a petty soul 
the infamy of whose cowardice shows only the blacker 
by contrast with this one trifling display of courage. 
And so Jesus being King, is crowned King, and en- 
titled King, and enthroned King on Calvary. When 
Satan had tempted Jesus he took Him to the top of 
a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms 
of the earth, and offered Him their empire. And now 
our Saviour's heavenly Father gives Him His throne 
of eternal and universal sovereignty upon a mountain 
of suffering and of love. Meantime the soldiers were 
dividing our Saviour's garments. A linen cloth about 
the loins was left Jesus as a covering, for the Romans 
did not strip the crucified quite naked. All other 
raiment was the soldiers' perquisite. "The soldiers 
therefore, when they had crucified Him, took His gar- 
ments (and they made four parts, to every soldier a 



702 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



part), and also His coat." His attire had consisted 
of His outer robe and cincture, His head-dress, His 
sandals, and His inner garment or 
tunic, called by St. John his coat, 
doubtless the work of Mary's lov- 
ing hands. " Now the coat was 
without seam, woven from the top 
throughout. They said then one 
to another : L,et us not cut it, but 
let us cast lots for it whose it shall 
be. That the Scripture might be 
fulfilled, saying : They have parted 
My garments among them; a?id 
upon My vesture they have cast 
lots." Very probably these poor 
perquisites of the executioners 
were thus carefully secured in 
order to be sold as relics to His 
loving friends. 

The Evangelists thus describe 
the groups and persons present : ' ' And the soldiers 
indeed did these things." " And they sat and watched 
Him." "And the people stood beholding." 




CHAPTER LIV. 

THE TRIUMPH OF THE CONSPIRATORS. THE GOOD 

THIEF. — "WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON." 
Matt, xxvii. 35-44 ; Mark xv. 24-32 ; Luke xxiii. 
34-43 ; John xix. 23-27. 
There was a vast throng — standing, gazing, mov- , 
ing and passing, talking and blaspheming — around the 
Cross of Jesus. He was raised above them, hanging 
in great agony by the nails, perhaps, as already sur- 
mised, also tied to His gibbet by ropes ; and so He 



TRIUMPH OF THE CONSPIRA TORS. 703 

looked upon the multitude, looked upon the walls and 
roofs of the city, looked in spirit upon the whole 
human race He loved so devotedly. 

But He first sees His bitterest enemies, and they 
instantly absorb His profoundest pity — not His dis- 
ciples nor the holy women, no, not even His mother. 
His enemies win His first care and attention. It is 
easily known from this how Jesus ranks the various 
classes whom He came to serve and save : with Him 
sinners are first, and among sinners the vilest outrank 
all others in His esteem. And what was their feel- 
ing towards Him ? Hate triumphant ; especially over 
His downfall as a miracle worker. He loved them too 
well to save Himself the pain of redeeming them. 
They hated Him the more because He was at last at 
the end of His miracles, as they thought. Little did 
they dream that the sacrifice of Calvary was His fore- 
most miracle. To ask Him to come down from His 
cross by a miracle was to ask Him to substitute for 
the greatest miracle of love the least miracle of power. 

They mock Him by recalling His prophecy about 
the Temple. History has shown how utterly the death 
of Jesus Christ has overthrown the Temple of Jeru- 
salem and searched and cleansed away the last traces 
of its foundations with wrathful fire. Yet faith in 
that Temple's eternal endurance was what inspired the 
victorious conspirators as they cast insults into the 
face of their dying Victim on Calvary. "Vah! 
Thou who destroy est the Temple of God, and in three 
days buildest it up again, save Thy own self." 

This was a repetition of one of the accusations be- 
fore Caiphas, and was followed up by the other : "If 
Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 
In like manner also the chief priests, with the scribes 
and ancients, mocking, said one to another : He saved 



704 



The soldiers, therefore, when they had 
crucified him, took his garments (and they 
made four parts, to every soldier a part), 
and also his coat. Now the coat was with- 
out seam, woven from the top throughout. 
They said then one to another : Let us not 
cut it, but let us cast lots for it whose it 
shall be ; that it might be fulfilled which 
was spoken of by the prophet, saying : 
They divided ?ny gar??ients among them, and 
upoti my vesture they Cust lots. And the 
soldiers indeed did these things. And 
they sat and watched him. And the people 
stood beholding. And they that passed 
by blasphemed him, wagging their heads 
and saying : Vah ! Thou that destroyest 
the Temple of God, and in three days dost 
rebuild it, save thy own self. If thou be 
the Son of God, come down from the 
cross. In like manner also the chief 
priests, with the scribes and ancients, mock- 
ing, said one to another : He saved others, 
himself he cannot save. Let Christ the 
King of Israel come down now from the 
cross, that we may see and believe. He 
trusted in God, let him now deliver him if 
he will have him, for he said : I am the Son 
of God. And the soldiers also mocked 
him, coming to him and offering him vine- 
gar, and saying : If thou be the King of the 
Jews save thyself. And the self-same 
thing the thieves also, that were crucified 
with him, reproached him with. And one 
of those robbers who were hanged, blas- 
phemed him, saying : If thou be Christ, 
save thyself and us But the other an- 
swering, rebuked him, saying : Neither 
dost thou fear God, seeing thou art under 
the same condemnation ? And we indeed 
justly, for we receive the due reward of our 
deeds, but this man hath done no evil. 
And he said to Jesus : Lord, remember me 
when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. 
And Jesus said to him : Amen, I say to 
thee, this day thou shalt be with me in 
Paradise. Now there stood by the cross 
of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sis- 
ter Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magda- 
lene. When Jesus, therefore, had seen 
his mother, and the disciple standing whom 
he loved, he saith to his mother : Woman, 
behold thy son. After that he saith to the 
disciple : Behold thy mother. And from 
that hour the disciple took her to his own. 



say : * ' Call out 
them as we are 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

others, Himself He cannot save." 
They could not deny His miracles 
as facts, but they imply that God 
had nothing to do with them or 
with Him. So they continue with 
bitter irony : ' ' Let Christ the King 
of Israel come down now from the 
Cross, that we may see and believe. 
He trusted in God, let Him now 
deliver Him if He will have Him, 
for He said, I am the Son of God." 
They were right ; Christ must stand 
or fall by His claim to be the Deity 
— He was the only begotten Son of 
God or He was an impostor. A few 
days more and He would display all 
and more than all the divine power 
they now defied Him to exert. 

1 ' And the soldiers also mocked 
Him, coming to Him and offering 
Him vinegar, saying : If Thou be 
the King of the Jews, save Thy- 
self." Every Roman, though he 
were but a barbarian under a Roman 
soldier's uniform, despised the pup- 
pet kings whom in various countries 
the imperial city tolerated that they 
might help drag along the chariot of 
her empire. It was a holiday sport 
for these men of blood thus to tor- 
ture and kill a Jewish king, and so 
they were glad to insult Him in His 
agony. "Save Thyself" — as if to 
Thy followers, that we may devour 
devouring Thee." Saddest of all, 



THE GOOD THIEF. 



705 



however, were the insults of our Saviour's fellow 
sufferers. " And the self-same thing the thieves 
also, that were crucified with Him, reproached 
Him with." 

Upon all these revilers Jesus had pity. He lavish- 
ed upon them His longings to win their love, and, 
as we have the record of His words, He prayed His 
Father to forgive them, pleading in their behalf their 
ignorance. But on His companions in crucifixion He 
poured out a fuller flood of affection. Could He turn 
His head enough to look at them? We cannot tell. 
At any rate He could speak to them. The result of 
His pity was the conversion of the one since known as 
the Good Thief, but alas ! only the hardening of the 
other's heart. c< And one of those robbers who were 
hanged, blasphemed Him, saying : If Thou be Christ, 
save Thyself and us. But the other answering, re- 
buked Him, saying : Neither dost thou fear God, see- 
ing thou art under the same condemnation ? And we 
indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our 
deeds, but this man hath done no evil." So humble 
a confession, joined with so earnest an exhortation to 
his perverse companion, won a great reward. 
The Spirit of Jesus inspired the repentant thief 
to pra}' for pardon. " And he said to Jesus : 
Lord, remember me when Thou shalt come into <£ 
Thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him : Amen, 
I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me 
in Paradise." How quickly was the penitent 
thief's prayer granted ; and how singular the 
choice of Jesus, thus to bring into paradise as 
the first-fruits of His Crucifixion the soul of 
a most depraved and abandoned malefactor ! 

But a very different soul was there demand- 
ing His recognition, for ''there stood by the 





706 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




Cross of Jesus His mother," Mary. God had so des- 
tined. Among the last of the Messianic prophecies 
was that of Simeon to her : " Thine own soul a sword 
shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be 
revealed." The pangs of child-birth from which she 
had been exempted at Bethlehem are to be more than 
endured on Calvary. 

Where had she been all this dreadful time ? Doubt- 
less the Lord and she had arranged for all her hours 
of sorrowful waiting till He should bid her 
adieu under the Cross. And now, supported 
by the foremost of her band of ministering wo- 
men, including the holy penitent, Magdalene, 
she takes her faithful stand beneath it, John 
the beloved disciple waiting 
near. What did she say to her 
Son ? We know not. But some 
words of love and sympathy 
and encouragement He must have heard from 
her sweet, motherly voice, taking the place of 
those tones of comfort which no longer came to 
Him from His angels or from the darkening and 
silent heavens. 

Of all living mortals none but Mary could so well 
join Jesus in His sacrifice to the Father, for she 
alone held His entire secret in her mother's heart : her 
knowledge and her love attained the fulness of human 
capacity, and therefore her co-operation in Calvary's 
atonement. She offers Him to God, and she offers 
herself ; she is the noblest trophy of His redeeming 
love. She is here typical of the Church of Christ in 
her offering of herself and all her children to God 
with Christ in the daily sacrifice of the Eucharist. 

Jesus made her loving presence at His cross, side 
by side with His beloved disciple, the occasion for the 



" WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON." 707 

solemn adoption of all our race into the Holy Family, 
that she might become the Great Mother of us all. 
" Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus, His Mother, 
and His Mother's sister Mary of Cleophas, and 
Mary Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore, had 
seen His Mother, and the disciple standing 
whom He loved, He saith to His Mother : Wo- 
man, behold thy son. After that He saith to 
the disciple : Behold thy mother. And from 
that hour the disciple took her to his own." 
When He said, "Woman, behold thy son," 
she might have thought that He meant, Look 
upon Me, thy Son, and upon this My last extremity 
of woe — Me whom thou didst devour with thy loving 
looks when I was born. But no, it is another son 
He bids her look upon. 

The colloquy of the enemies, the colloquy of the 
robbers, the colloquy of the friends — how terrible it 
all is, and how heart-rending, and how wonderfully 
instructive of the love of God for man ! 

The colloquy with Mary is very touching. Would 
that we had it complete, for these two most brief sen- 
tences can be but a fragment. They reveal to us, 
however, much more than their literal meaning. We 
learn that Joseph was certainly dead, for otherwise 
Jesus would have had no need of providing Mary 
a protector ; also that Mary had lived like her Son 
ithe past three years, a wandering and homeless life ; 
land that her Son in His torment of mind and body 
!did not forget to provide in the home of the beloved 
I disciple a harbor of refuge for her who had loved 
iHim first, and last, and best of all the human race. 




7°8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER LV. 

THE DEATH OF JESUS. 

Matt, xxvii. 45-50 ; Mark xv. 33-37 ; Luke xxiii. 44-46; 
lohn xix. 20-30. 

And now the event expected for so many ages is 
about to take place. Jesus is dying. 

' ' And it was almost the sixth hour ; and when the 
sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the 
whole earth until the ninth hour ; and the sun was 
darkened." This was not an ordinary eclipse, but 
a miracle. God the Creator veiled the bright face 
of nature in token of the shamefulness of such a deed 
as men were about to commit. " And at the ninth 
hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying : Eloi ! 
Eloi ! lamma sabacthanif Which is, being inter- 
preted : My God! My God ! why hast thou forsaken 
Me ? And some of the standers-by hearing, said : 
Behold, He calleth Elias." 

It was the cry of a desolate 
heart, a mind accustomed to inti- 
mate union with the Deity, now 
banished into the gloomiest depths 
of misery : disappointment and the 
sense of failure, acute mental agony 
suffered amid the most excruciating 
bodily torments. And joined with 
this loud plaint of spiritual anguish 
was the only complaint He ever 
made on account of bodily pain. 
"Afterwards Jesus, knowing that 
all things were now accomplished, 
that the Scripture might be fulfilled, 
said: I thirst." Was not this a 



And it was almost the sixth hour ; and 
when the sixth hour was come, there was 
darkness over the whole earth until the 
ninth hour ; and the sun was darkened. 
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with 
a loud voice, saying : Eloi ! Eloi! lamma 
sabacthani? Which is, being interpreted : 
My God I My God! why hast thou forsaken 
me ? And some of the standers-by hearing, 
said: Behold, he calleth Elias. After- 
wards Jesus, knowing that all things were 
now accomplished, that the Scripture might 
be fulfilled, said : I thirst. Now there was 
a vessel set full of vinegar ; and immediate- 
ly one of them running, took a sponge and 
filled it with vinegar, and putting it upon a 
reed, put it to his mouth, and gave him to 
drink. And the others said : Let be, let us 
see whethaj- Elias will come to deliver him. 
Jesus, therefore, when he had taken the 
vinegar, said : It is consummated. And 
Jesus again crying with a loud voice, said : 
Father, into thy hands I commend my 
spirit. And saying this, and bowing his 
head, he gave up the ghost. 



THE DEA TH OF JESUS. 

special atonement for the 
dreadful sin of drunken- 
ness ? Many millions of 
Catholic abstainers think 
so, and are approved by g? 
Holy Church in echoing 
this dying cry of Jesus and 
making it part of their 
pledge. The answer of the drunk- 
ard to this complaint of Jesus is 
different, and it was well expressed by % 
their representative that day. "NowO 
there was a vessel set there full of vine- w 
gar ; and immediately one of them run- 
ning, took a sponge and filled it with 
vinegar, and putting it upon a reed, 
put it to His mouth, and gave Him to 
drink . " But this was not insult enough ; 
a banter about Klias coming down from 
heaven to rescue Him was added : 
" And the others said : Let be, let us 
see whether Klias will come to deliver Him. 
Jesus, therefore, when He had taken the 
vinegar, said: It is consummated." It 
was the end and sum of what God would 
permit men to do in putting Him to torture 

j j ,, "Why hast Thou forsakep M«?' 

and death. 

Many writers think that the scourging of Jesus 
was cruel enough to kill Him, and that His life was 
saved for the Cross by a miracle. But this is only 
conjecture. Perhaps even the Cross may not have 
been enough to kill Him. Jesus might have outlived 
the three hours of His crucifixion. He was a strong 
man. He had the hardy nerves of a workman, a 
muscular and sinewy frame ; He could bear suffer- 




7io 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




calleth Elias ! 



ing well. But everything indicates that the 
emotional faculties of His nature were tried be- 
yond endurance. Jesus had already suffered 
crucifixion of the heart. The ingratitude of 
the Jews, the cowardice of His friends, the be- 
trayal by Judas, the denial of Peter, the horri- 
ble shouts '■' Crucify Him ! " weighed down His 
spirits with deadly weariness. But His cry of 
anguish to His Father reveals a greater pain 
than even this. Jesus was under Heaven's ban 
for our guilty sakes. He was made anathema 
and, as far as could be, cast off and abandoned by His 
eternal Father, devoted, destined, and set apart to bear 
all the punishment due to all the sinners of the world, 
and to be the sacrifice of atonement for all the sins of 
men : the curse of all sin fell upon Jesus for the sake 
of saving sinners, and with the curse the punishment. 
This was consummated by the Father plunging the soul 
of Jesus into the fulness of all the punishment due to 
sin, everything except the reality of personal guilt. 
And all this sense of the insulted majesty of the Deity 
and the ruin of the souls of the damned was crossed 
by the most intense love of Jesus for God His Father 
and for all men His brothers. The conflict was a 
piercing pain impossible to bear and impossible to be 
rid of but by death. And death now drew near. The 
end was at hand. " And Jesus again crying with a 
loud voice, said : Father, into Thy hands I commend 
My Spirit." 

" And saying this, and bowing His head, He gave 
up the ghost." 

As He uttered His last cry of mingled terror and 
love His face grew ashy pale, His poor blood-streaked 
limbs stiffened, His eyes were glazed over, His blue 
lips parted and His jaw fell. Slowly that gentle face 



THE DEA TH OF JESUS. 



711 



bent downwards, as if bending low in submission to 
the Great Livelier of His race, Death, and with a 
deep-drawn sigh our blessed and loving Redeemer 
breathed out His spirit into His Father's bosom. 

Our Saviour at last hung dead upon His Cross. 

Thus Calvary has been made the altar for the 
world's atoning sacrifice. It is more than this. It is 
the trysting-place for all His lovers, it is His temple, 
His treasury ; and the cross is the balance which 
weighs out ransom, the pulpit from which Incarnate 
love speaks the lesson of pardon to all mankind. 

Thus ended the life of Jesus Christ the Son of 
God, a" life wholly devoted to the instruction of men 
in divine wisdom and their elevation to union with 
God in eternal love and joy. This mission 
was all fulfilled in great sorrow and with many 
disappointments, and finally ended in betrayal, 
condemnation, and most ignominious death. 
And yet of all His wisdom and all His joy 
this unspeakable failure and misery and pain 
of Calvary was destined to be the fountain of 
greatest joy and the chair of highest teach- 
ing. The cross is the standard of the vic- 
torious king. j 

The little child will sign itself with this ter- If 
rible symbol as its first proud act of conscious ^1 
love of God, and the aged Christian shall clasp j j 
the cross in his hands with the clutch of a miser, tj$ 
and feel its gentle streams of consolation flood- «< Let be let us see w hether 
ing his inmost soul ; as he kisses it, its taste to EHas will come to deliver 
his dying lips will be a foretaste of paradise. Him -" 
Under this cross enemies hold tryst for mutual pardon, 
and friends are bound into holy brotherhoods of the 
deepest love. At the end of the world the Cross of Jesus 
shall shine in the heavens to announce His coming. 




712 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 



THE WORDS OF CALVARY. 



Write not, The King of the Jews, 
but that: He said, I am the King of 
the Jews. Pilate answered : What 
I have written, I have written. 

Let us not cut it, but let us cast 
lots for it whose it shall be. 

Vah ! Thou that destroyest the 
Temple of God, and in three days 
dost rebuild it, save Thy own self. If 
Thou be the Son of God, come 
down from the Cross. 

He saved others, Himself He can- 
not save. Let Christ the King of 
Israel come down now from the 
Cross, that we may see and believe. 

He trusted in God, let Him now 
deliver Him if He will have Him, 
for He said : I am the Son of God. 

If Thou be the King of the Jews, 
save Thyself. 

If Thou be the Christ, save Thy- 
self and us. 

[But the other robber said : ] 
But this Man hath done no evil. 

Lord, remember me when Thou 
shalt come into Thy kingdom. 



WORDS SPOKEN BY JESUS. 



Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do. 



Amem, I say to thee, this day 
thou shalt be with Me in Paradise. 



Behold, He calleth Elias. 
Let be, let us see whether Elias 
will come to deliver Him. 



Woman, behold thy son. 
Behold thy mother. 
Eloi ! Eloi ! lamma sabacthani ? 
[My God! My God! Why hast 
Thou forsaken Me ? ] 

I thirst. 

It is consummated. 

Father, into Thy hands I com- 
mend My spirit. 




AFTER THE CRUCIFIXION. 



713 



CHAPTER LVI. 

AFTER THE CRUCIFIXION. 

Matt, xxvii. 51-56 ; Mark xv. 39-41 ; Lukexxiii. 47-4.9 ; 
Tohn xix. 31-37. 

Jesus died because He willed it. He always held 
the keys of life and death, but most willingly had He 
delivered Himself up to the awful penalty of sin that 
death is. He had anticipated, consented to, this offer- 
ing at every step of His passion, from His going into 
the garden till on the cross He bowed His head as if 
motioning death to approach and seize his victim. He 
was always master of His life, and always gave it 
up for us. " No man," He had said long before, 
' ' taketh My life away from Me ; but I lay it down of 
Myself, and I have power to lay it 
down, and I have power to take it 
up again" (John x. 18). 

And now that His soul is liberat- 
ed from His body, Jesus begins His 
new life. He does so by entering 
into His Father's Temple in Jeru- 
salem, and solemnly bringing to an 
end the ancient covenant of God with 
the race of Israel : He destroys the 
veil of the holy of holies. "And 
behold the veil of the Temple was 
rent in two from the top even to the 
bottom." The sacrifice of praise 
and reconciliation is transferred from 
Mount Moriah to Mount Calvary, the 
Hucharistic altar of Christ's per- 
petual atonement. 

1 * And the earth quaked, and the 




714 



BE14CS Of TMt 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

rocks were rent, and the graves 
were opened, and many bodies 
of the saints that slept, arose, 
and coming out of the tombs 
after His resurrection, came 
into the holy city and appeared 
to many." The Evangelist 
here anticipates his narrative, 
telling of what happened at the 
resurrection of Jesus — the com- 
ing forth from the dust of the 
tomb of those Israelites (so dif- 
ferent from the chief priests) , 
that they might say farewell 
to the ancient covenant and 
might form an invisible escort 
to Jesus in His subsequent 
teaching. They were His im- 
mediate care after His death, 
being the spirits to whom He preached in their prison 
house of Limbo (I. Peter Hi. 19). 

It was the divine will that the imperial race of 
Rome should not lack a worthy representative at the 
Cross. " The centurion who stood over against Him, 
seeing, that crying out in this manner He had given 
up the ghost, said : Indeed this Man was the Son of 
God." He was converted by Jesus' sermon from the 
Cross. That and the convulsions of nature had affect- 
ed the whole multitude. "And they that were with 
him watching Jesus, having seen the earthquake and 
the things that were done, were sore afraid, saying : 
Indeed this was the Son of God. And all the multi- 
tude that were come together to that sight, and saw 
the things that were done, returned striking their 
breasts." 




AFTER THE CRUCIFIXION. 715 

" Indeed this Man was the Son of God! " The 
men who said this were doubtless the very ones who 
that same morning had flogged Jesus, mocked and 
spat on Him and crowned Him with thorns : who 
even three hours before had stripped Him and thrown 
dice for His poor garments, and nailed His hands 
and feet to the wood, meantime amused at the insults of 
the chief priests. But as they stood out their guard, 
as they saw the heavens begin to darken, as they 
heard the words of Jesus so full of forgiveness and 
pity and love, as they felt the earth tremble, and finally 
as they caught the first thrills of Calvary's mighty 
graces when He bowed His head and died, they yielded 
their rude nature's tribute to His sway. 

If these portents of nature, the darkening sun and 
the quivering earth, had so powerful an 
effect on pagans and enemies, turning them 
instantly from scoffers into adorers, what a 
gladdening sensation they must have given 
to these friends of Jesus, including Mary 
and many other brave women, who had fol- 
lowed Him since long ago from His distant 
home in the north and were with Him now 
at the very end. "And His acquaintance, 
and the women that had followed Him " They sha " look on Him whom 

r ^ ■,•■, ... _ T . they pierced." 

from Galilee ministering unto Him, 
stood afar off beholding these things ; among whom 
was Mary Magdalene ; and Mary the mother of James 
the L,ess and of Joseph ; and Salome the mother of 
the sons of Zebedee, who also, when He was in Gali- 
lee, followed Him, and ministered to Him ; and many 
other women that came up with Him to Jerusalem." 
The last stroke upon the body of Jesus was in- 
flicted after death had ended pain and all power of 
feeling it — the piercing of the corpse's side. When 




7i6 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



Jesus' body was pierced by the 
soldier's spear, it was the sacra- 
ments of Baptism and the Eucharist 
that were typified by the water and 
the blood pouring out of His heart ; 
that wound is the Church's open 
door. She is the Spouse of Christ, 
and thus she was born out of the 
side of the new Adam, as He lay 
sleeping upon His altar, the Cross. 
The wound of the soldier's spear 
was broad and deep, for Thomas 
the Apostle afterwards laid his hand 
in it. It was inflicted on a poor 
corpse to make sure of already certain death, pro- 
phetically for the sake of the resurrection ; and also, 
perhaps, to gratify the ferocious scruple of the 
chief priests, troubled lest their deed were not whol- 
ly done, or were not bloody enough. His side was 
thus opened ; and it was left open in His risen body, 
that His heart might have a more direct road to us 
than even His tongue or His lips or His eyes, and 
that His love might travel the quicker to us when 
treading, with His sacraments, the free path of blood 
and water. 



Then the Jews (because it was the para- 
sceve) that the bodies might not remain 
upon the cross on the sabbath-day (for that 
was a great sabbath day) besought Pilate 
that their legs might be broken, and that 
they might be taken away The soldiers 
therefore came : and they broke the legs of 
the first, and of the other that was cruci- 
fied with him. But after they were come to 
Jesus, when they saw that he was already 
dead, they did not break his legs. But one 
of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, 
and immediately there came out blood and 
water. And he that saw it' hath given 
testimony : and his testimony is true. And 
he knoweth that he saith true : that you 
also may believe. For these things were 
done that the scripture might be fulfilled : 
You shall not break a bone of him. And 
again another scripture saith : They shall 
look on him whom they pierced. 




THE BURIAL OF JESUS. 



717 



CHAPTER LVII. 

THE BURIAL OF JESUS. 

Matt. xxvii.^y—66 ; Markxv. 42-4.7 ; Luke xxiii. 50—56; 
John xix. j 8-42. 

False councillors had murdered Jesus, faithful ones 
shall bury Him. "And after these things, when 
evening was now come, there came a 
certain rich man of Arimathea, a city 
of Judea, named Joseph, who was a no- 
ble councillor, a good and a just man ; 
(the same had not consented to their 
counsel and doings), who also himself 
looked for the kingdom of God. This 
man came and went in boldly to Pilate 
and begged the body of Jesus (because 
he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly 
for fear of the Jews) . ' ' Once more the 
Roman judge would do something for 
the innocent Victim, but not enough 
to make trouble for himself. For what 
if Jesus were not really dead ? To give 
Him to Joseph would again bring upon 
Pilate the whole horde of the Jews. 
"But Pilate wondered that He should 
be already dead ; and sending for the 
centurion, he asked him if He were al- 
ready dead. And when he had understood it by the 
centurion, Pilate commanded that the body should be 
delivered to Joseph." 

The courage of these members of the Sanhedrin, 

Joseph and Nicodemus, though tardy, was genuine. 

The death of the Saviour had already begun its 
work, making fearless and open friends of Jesus men 




7 i8 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



[Joseph] came, therefore, and Nicode- 
mus also came, he who at first came to 
Jesus by night, bringing a mixture of 
myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 
And Joseph bringing fine linen, and tak- 
ing him down, wrapped him up in the fine 
linen, with the spices, as the manner of the 
Jews is to bury. Now there was in the 
place where he was crucified, a garden ; 
and Joseph, taking the body laid it in his 
own new monument, which he had hewed 
out in a rock, in the garden, a new sepul- 
chre, wherein no man yet had been laid. 
And he rolled a great stone to the door of 
the monument and went his way. 



who before had timidly crept to Him 
under cover of darkness. It was 
very pious of Joseph, a man of note 
and wealth, to give up his own 
tomb to Jesus ; such an act among 
the Jews was like adopting Him 
into his family. 

The grave was a trough-like 
cavity inside a rocky chamber. 
They would have embalmed Him 
fully, but they had not sufficient time. " It was the 
day of the Parasceve, and the Sabbath drew on." 
Sundown divided Good Friday from the Jews' rest-day, 
and as time had already been consumed in dealing 
with Pilate, they could only hastil}^ and temporarily 
use the spices they had purchased for embalming the 
body. They loosened it most reverently from 
it in their little funeral pro- 
garden and laid Jesus in the 
Lerefore, because of the Para- 
sceve of the Jews," that 
the " sepulchre was nigh 
at hand, ' ' — John and Mary 
and the other holy women 
following reverently after 
them. 

This new and bold 
spirit *in Joseph and Nico- 
demus, and the providen- 
tial nearness of the tomb, 
saved the holy body from 
the ignominy of hanging 
all the Sabbath day upon 
the cross. And if the cir- 
cumstance of night ap- 




THE BURIAL OF JESUS. 



719 



proaching hindered trie full funereal honors at that 
time, yet there were loving souls to see to it later on. 
"And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of 
Joseph, sitting over against the sepulchre, beheld where 
He was laid. And the [other] women that were come 
with Him from Galilee, following after, saw the sepul- 
chre, and how His body was laid." Then 
" returning, they prepared spices and oint- 
ments, and on the Sabbath-day they 
rested according to the command- 
ment." This shows that these 




72o 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




He had hewed out in a rock 
a new sepulchre." 



*J women had themselves intended to pro- 
vide for embalming Jesus, and that they 
expected to do it on Friday ; but when 
the entombment took place it was too 
late to purchase and prepare the spices. 
They rested on the Sabbath, and we 
shall find them on the morning of the 
Resurrection coming back with persistent 
affection to give the body of their beloved 
Master His full rites of sepulture. 

Meantime the chief priests asked Pi- 
late for soldiers to guard the tomb. 
They were abusive of Jesus and called 
Him a seducer, but Pilate readily yielded 
to them. How keenly they had noted the prophesy 
of the Resurrection, which even the disciples had 
not understood! 

The guard was a detail of Roman 
soldiers, probably the usual number 
of sixteen, making a relief watch of 
four men. The grave was sealed 
officially ; that is to say, a cord was 
drawn across it and fixed with wax 
to the rock on either side. A pitiful 
provision it was, a handful of sol- 
diers and a bit of cord and wax to 
imprison the Master of the uni- 
verse ! But this was just as strong as all of Rome's 
legions and all of hell's legions would have been 
to keep Jesus in His grave. 



And the next day, which followed the 
day of preparation, the chief priests and 
the Pharisees came together to Pilate, say- 
ing: Sir, we have remembered, that that 
seducer said, while he was yet alive : After 
three days I will rise again. Command 
therefore the sepulchre to be guarded until 
the third day : lest perhaps his disciples 
come, and steal him away, and say to the 
people, he is risen from the dead : and the 
last error shall be worse than the first. 
Pilate said to them : You have a guard : 
go, guard it as you know. And they de- 
parting, made the sepulchre sure, sealing 
the stone, and setting guards. 



BOOK IV. 



The Resurrection. 



731-732 




Rabboni !— Master. 




THE RESURRECTION. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE RESURRECTION.- -THE EMPTY SEPULCHRE. 

Matt, xxviii. 1-15 ; Mark xvi. 1-11 ; Luke xxiv. 1-12 ; 
fohn xx. 1 -1 8. 

" But Jesus [rose] early the first day of the 
week. And toehold there was a great earth- 
quake. For an angel of the Lord descended 
from heaven 5 and coming rolled bach the 
stone, and sat upon it. And his countenance 
was as lightning, and his raiment as snow. 
And for fear of him, the guards w*re struck 
-with terror, and became as dead men," 

The Crucifixion had driven the Apostles into hid- 
ing. Peter and John had become separated from the 
others, and had spent the two nights and the Sabbath 
day between Friday and Sunday — where ? Some sup- 
pose in the supper- room. But wherever it was, it was 

7»3 



724 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



in anguish, alarmed at even,- sound, doubting the 
future, and yet striving to hold fast to their faith 
in the Lord's incomprehensible words, "I will rise 
again." As they were stirring with the first light 
of Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene suddenly burst 
in upon them and shocked them: "They have taken 
away the body of the Lord ! " she cried. They stared 
at her, as she stood panting and beside herself; and 
then she sat down, glared upon them, wept, and in 
a moment was gone again. This was the earliest an- 
nouncement of the Resurrection. 

Thus what was first known of the Resurrection, 
as far as recorded, was not the sight of the risen 
Saviour but the empty tomb. This startling discov- 
ery was made by some of the holy women ; that is to 
say, Man* Magdalene, Mary the mother of James 2nd 
Salome. After the burial on Friday afternoon they 
were driven away from the tomb by the soldiers ap- 
pointed to guard it, and they had 
gone (we may surmise) to Bethany 
and there spent the night of Friday, 
and waited till the slow-moving hours 
of Saturday had brought sundown 
and the end of the Sabbath rest. 
They then went into the city, and in 
the evening twilight 'ought the drugs 
necessary for the embalmment, and 
returned to Bethany. Sunday morn- 
ing they started for the sepulchre, 
passing through the city in the first 
faint rays of light, asking each other 
how they should get help to open the 
grave, how they should manage with 
the soldiers. It was not yet full day- 
light in the garden amid the shadows 




THE RESURRECTION. 



7*$ 



of the trees, though the Tem- 
ple's pinnacles were golden with 
the light of the risen sun — 
("yet dark," "dawn," "the 
sun being now risen") — when 
they arrived at the tomb. 

They find the tomb empty ! 

They were all terrified at this 
sight, but Magdalene, it would 
seem, more so than her two 
companions. She started off 
at once, and alone, to where 
Peter and John were known to 
be in hiding. 

The Scripture account of 
this first event in the history of 
the Saviour's resurrection, tell- 
ing of the women's purpose, and 
of their journey and the dis- 
covery of the absence of the body of Jesus, is as 
follows: "And in the end of the Sabbath, when it 
began to dawn, towards the first day of the week 
very early in the morning, it being yet dark, came 
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary [the mother] 
of James and Salome, bringing the spices which they 
had prepared, to see the sepulchre. And they said 
one to another : Who shall roll us back the stone 
from the door of the sepulchre ? And they came to 
the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. And look- 
ing, they saw the stone rolled back from the sepulchre. 
For it was very great. And going in they found not 
the body of the Lord Jesus." 

Mary Magdalene, as we have seen, ran to find 
Peter, leaving the company of Mary mother of James 
and Salome for that purpose. These women on their 





LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

part started in a different direction to find the nine 

other Apostles. They had not gone far before they 

were joined by a second party of the holy women. 

These had passed the night in the city and now 

to assist in anointing the Lord's body. Mary 

of James and her companion met them, told 

mj^them of the empty grave, and went back with 

them, that they might behold the wonderful 

, fact for themselves. As they all drew near to 

" The guards were struck with J 

terror and became as dead men." the Sepulchre a marvellous vision of angels 

was granted to them. " And it came to 
pass while they were astonished in mind 
at this, behold, two men stood by them 
in shining apparel. And as they were 
afraid and bowed down their counte- 
nance towards the ground, the angel 
answering, said to the women : Fear 
not you ; for I know that you seek 
Jesus who was crucified. Why seek 
you the living among the dead ? He is 
not here, but is risen. Come and see 
the place where the Lord was laid. Re- 
member how He spoke to you, when 
He was yet in Galilee, saying: The 
Son of Man must be delivered into 
the hands of sinful men, and be cru- 
cified, and the third day rise again. 
And going quickly, tell ye His dis- 
ciples, and Peter, that He is risen, 
and that He goeth before you into 
Galilee ; there you shall see Him, as 
He told you. Lo, I have foretold 
it to you. And they remembered 
His words. And they went out 
quickly from the sepulchre, (and) 




THE EMPTY SEPULCHRE. 



727 




fled with fear and great joy, running to tell His dis- 
ciples." 

But Mary Magdalene having ran off before the 
angels appeared could not announce to Peter and 
John that the Master had risen, could not tell 
of any angelic messengers, but only that the 
body of Jesus was gone from the tomb. She 
11 cometh to Simon Peter and to the other dis- 
ciple whom Jesus loved, and saith to them : 
They have taken away the L,ord out of the 
sepulchre, and we know not where they have 
laid Him. Peter, therefore, went out, and that 
other disciple." The two disciples and Mag- 

&q\ of tllG "^iiiisi 

dalene thus started together in great haste to- Lord de _ ^H-B^'flQ 

wards the sepulchre, but she was too weak with scended ^HHBH 

sorrow and watching to keep up with them ; from He *ven ; and coming 

& , r r r rolled back the stone." 

they were strong men and ran fast ; they 

soon left her far behind. Peter and John 
soon arrived at the garden, and viewing 
with amazement the empty grave, depart- 
ed again before Mary overtook them. 
They had found no angels, no guards, 
none of the women, much less their risen 
Master; but there in the stillness of the 
early morning is the empty grave, — the 
place is all vacant and deserted. What 
awe must have filled their souls, what 
anticipations and longings, as they looked 
and wondered and prayed! "And they 
came to the sepulchre. And they both 
did run together, and that other disciple 
outran Peter, and came first to the sepul- 
chre. And when he stooped down, he 
saw the linen cloths lying; but yet he MW . 

,_., , _.. Why seek you the living among the 

went not in. Then cometh Simon Peter, dead?" 





728 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

following him, and went into the sepulchre, and saw 
the linen cloths lying. And the napkin that had 
been about His head, not lying with the linen cloths, 
but apart, wrapt up into one place. Then that other 
disciple went in, who came first to the sepulchre, and 
he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the 
Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 
So the disciples went away again to their homes. And 
Peter went away wondering in himself at that which 
was come to pass." 

Thus did Peter and John learn of the Resurrection : 
they saw the empty tomb and believed — not, as the 
wondering soul of Mary had fancied, that the body 
had been removed by enemies, but they were con- 
vinced that Jesus had kept the Scripture prophecy and 
had risen from the dead. To Peter, especially, this 
was a glorious event, about which he communed not 
only with his well- loved brother disciple, but with his 
own heart of hearts, so recently wounded by the deep 
sin of denial of his Master, and healed by His gracious 
pardon. 




JESUS APPEARS TO MARY MAGDALENE. 729 

CHAPTER II. 

THE APPARITION OF JESUS TO MARY MAGDALENE. 

^rTTrv^w Mark xvi. 70, 11 ; John xx. 11-18. 

&$$mr$^ U T where was the Risen Lord ? Before un- 
\^^Jt^§Mf dertaking to answer let us consider His 
f^&Wffi^^^. Soul's mission between the moment of 
^^gap^ ■ His death and that of His resurrection. 
J The time between the death of Jesus 
I^F and His resurrection was but two nights 
•^ and part of three days, yet it formed a 

great cycle in the eternal years. By the swift power 
of God the redemption of man, the predestination of 
the elect and the sanctification of the Church, were 
all consummated by the Soul of Christ in the bosom 
of the Trinity during that brief interval. He also 
visited that mysterious place of detention in which 
with patient faith and love the souls of the patri- 
archs and of all the just who had died before Him 
awaited Him: " In which also coming He preached 
to those spirits that were in prison " (I. Peter iii. 19). 
Of this spiritual evangelization we know little, and 
cannot know much more than that Jesus announced 
to those holy men and women that His Father had 
kept the covenant, and that Israel was redeemed. 
We know, too, that the soul of Jesus on His return 
to earth was solemnly escorted by many of these 
patriarchs, some of whom rose again in their bodies 
and appeared in the streets of the Holy City (Matt, 
xxvii. 52, 53). The angels also shared His glory; 
for when His soul returned to the tomb and broke it 
open and resumed its body, mighty spirits assisted 
Him, shaking the earth with their march of triumph, 
Bttt whtr« was tise Risen I?©rd befcw§tsi Hi* reatlf* 



730 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

rection and His first recorded apparition, and how 
was He occupied ? In answering these questions the 
mind naturally turns to the Mother of Jesus. The 
holy women, when they came to the sepulchre Sun- 
day morning, had left her, as is evident, in their 
place of waiting. Why would she consent to this ? 
Could she, the mother who had stood at His cross 
on Calvary, fail to go to the anointing of His body 
except she had a supernatural intimation from 
her Son's soul to await Him and meet Him where 
she was ? To whom should His first apparition 
be granted if not to her whose womb had 
been His happy sepulchre before He was 
born, and who had received His first greet- 
ings when He came into this world ? We are 
not surprised, therefore, that St. Ambrose 
witnesses to a tradition of the early Church 
that Jesus appeared first of all and immedi- 
ately after His resurrection to His mother. 
But His first recorded appearance was 
to Mary Magdalene. We have seen how 
she had brought the news of the disap- 
pearance of the divine body to Peter 
and John, and how in running back to the sepulchre, 
she, being all wearied by watching and journeying 
and heart-ache, had been left behind by the two 
Apostles, and only arrived at the tomb after they 
had come and gone, after even her former female com- 
panions had returned again, had conversed with the 
angels, and had once more departed. This was all 
arranged by divine appointment. For it was the Mas- 
ter's will to reward this much-loving penitent with 
the high honor of His first recorded appearance. The 
narrative is one of surpassing interest : 

"But Mary stood at the sepulchre without, wtep- 




JESUS APPEARS TO MARY MAGDALENE. 731 

ing. Now as she was weeping, she stooped down, 
and looked into the sepulchre: And she saw two 
angels in white, sitting, one at the head, and one 
at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been laid. 
They say to her : Woman, why weepest thou ? She 
saith to them : Because they have taken away my 
L,ord : and I know not where they have laid Him. 
When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and 
saw Jesus standing ; and she knew not that it was 
Jesus. Jesus saith to her : Woman, why weepest 
thou ? whom seekest thou ? She thinking that it was 
the gardener, saith to him : Sir, if thou hast taken 
Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him : and I 
will take Him away. Jesus saith to her : Mary. She 
turning, saith to Him : Rabboni (which is to say, 
Master). Jesus saith to her: Do not touch Me, for 
I am not yet ascended to My Father : but go to My 
brethren, and say to them : I ascend to My Father 
and to your Father, to My God and your God." 

Thus did Jesus appear to her ' ' out of whom He 
had cast seven devils." 

"The glorious lover Magdalene," says St. Francis 

de Sales {Love of God, Book V. chap, vii.), "met 

the angels at the sepulchre, who doubtless spoke to 

her angelically, that is most sweetly, but she, on the 

contrary, wholly rueful, could take no content, either 

in their sweet words or in the glory of their garments, 

or in the all- heavenly grace of their deportment, or 

in the most delightsome beauty of their faces, but all 

' steeped in tears : 'They have taken away my L,ord,' 

I says she, ' and I know not where they have laid 

I Him ' : and turning about, she saw her sweet Saviour, 

j but in form of a gardener, with whom her heart can- 

| not be satisfied, for full of the love of the death 

j of her Master, flowers she will have none, nor con- 




RABBONI ! 



732 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

sequently gardeners ; she has within her heart the 
cross, the nails, the thorns ; she seeks her Crucified." 

In fulfilment of our Lord's command she again be- 
comes a messenger of His resurrection, this time to the 
nine Apostles, following fast upon the announcement 
of the other women. "She went and told them that 
had been with Him, who were mourning and weeping ; 
and [she] telleth the disciples : I have seen the Lord, 
and these things He said to me." But they were as 
yet too hopelessly sunk in gloom and in doubt to credit 
her, " and they hearing that He was alive, and had 

been seen by her, did not believe." 

Thus did our Risen Saviour honor in the person 
of Mary Magdalene that supremely needful virtue, 
penance for sin, a virtue of which she is the fore- 
most exponent ; a woman who had been a harlot, who 
had been possessed of seven devils, but who had 
lovingly sorrowed and been most affectionately for- 
given and reconciled. 

" Mary," said Jesus to her. It was but a single 
word, but in speaking it He brought back to His 
voice a familiar tone and with it a revelation of 
His own beloved self. Was ever such surprise as 
Magdalene's, such ecstasy of joy? " Rabboni ! My 
Master!" she exclaimed, and fell at His feet to kiss 
them. But Jesus withdrew His feet from her, say- 
ing : " Do not touch Me, for I am not yet ascended 
to My Father." These are mysterious words. 

Our Saviour meant, according to St. Leo, as 
quoted in the Divine office during the octave of the 
Ascension, that not by the carnal hand but by the 
spiritual intelligence should the only begotten Son, 
equal of the Father, be touched after the resurrection. 
" When the Lord said to Mary Magdalene, Touch 
Me not, for I am not yet ascended to My Father, He 



I 

j JESUS APPEALS TO THE HOLY WOMEN. 733 

meant this : I do not wish that thou shouldst come 
jto Me in a bodily way, nor that thou shouldst know 
Me by the fleshly senses; I postpone thee to things 
[more sublime, I prepare thee for greater things. 
jWhen I shall have ascended to the Father, then thou 
jshalt touch Me more perfectly and more truly, laying 
,hold on what thou dost not touch, and believing what 



CHAPTER III. 

THE APPARITION OF JESUS TO THE HOLY WOMEN. — 
HOW THE CHIEF PRIESTS EXPLAINED THE RESUR- 
RECTION. 

Matt, xxviii. 9-15 ; Luke xxiv. 1—11. 

We have seen that when Mary Magdalene started 
to find Peter and John, her two companions, Mary 
mother of James and Salome, had likewise started 
to find the other Apostles, to tell them that the body 
of Jesus had disappeared from the sepulchre. Mean- 
time (according to what seems to us the most probable 
explanation) another party of the holy women had ar- 
rived near the garden, having come from their tarry- 
ing place in the city with the same object of anointing 
the body of Jesus. Mary the mother of James and 
j Salome met them, announced the startling news of 
the absence of the body, and then were induced to 
turn back with them to the sepulchre. When all 
had seen that the place where the body had lain 
was empty, they were suddenly aware of the pres- 
ence of two wonderful angels, whose apparition to 
!them we have already related. 

1 ' And they went out quickly from the sepulchre 
I with fear and great joy, running to tell the disciples." 
j Thus hastening onward to deliver the angelic mes- 



734 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

sage, suddenly a bright flash of light, outshining the 
morning sun, showed them Jesus Himself, all glori- 
ous and triumphant, standing before them on the road. 
11 And behold Jesus met them, saying : All hail. But 
they came up, and took hold of His feet and adored 
Him." He repeated the message of the angels with 
the addition of giving His disciples a rendezvous in 
Galilee. " Then Jesus said to them: Fear not. Go, 
tell My brethren that they go into Galilee, there they 
shall see Me." And so He vanished quickly away. 

The Evangelist then makes a statement in general 
terms of the different announcements of all the women 
to the Apostles: " And going back from the sepulchre, 
they told all these things to the eleven, and to all 
the rest. And it was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, 
and Mary of James, and the other women that were 
with them, who told these things to the Apostles." 
Peter and John, as we have seen, were already fully 
persuaded of the resurrection ; as to the other nine, 
"these words seemed to them as idle tales: and they 
did not believe them." 

Thus the sacred narrative tells of Jesus' second 
apparition, and it is to the holy women, as His first 
recorded appearance is to Magdalene. Why did Je- 
sus, we may reverently ask, thus favor the female 
members of His discipleship ? We answer that it 
may have been to reward and thereby to dignify the 
divine virtue of faith, "the root and foundation of 
all righteousness." For this virtue has always been a 
characteristic trait of the female sex among Chris- 
tians, standing guard in their persons over the treasure 
of truth in the family, in the school-room, and, par- 
ticularly in recent times, extending its direct, vigor- 
ous, and enlightening influence far into the whole 
region of human society. 



THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE RESURRECTION. 735 

The sacred chronicle takes final leave of the tomb, 
the garden, the soldiers, and the conspirators in 
telling of the frantic expedient of the chief priests to 
account for the resurrection. They affirm to Pilate 
that the body has been stolen by the disciples, and 
they would prove it by the testimony of men who 
confess that they were asleep when it happened ! 
It would seem that some of the soldiers, after re- 
covering from their panic, lay concealed near the 
sepulchre, and when all the events of the morning 
were over reported what had taken place, doing so 
to the chief priests, to whom Pilate had given them 
as a guard. " Who when they were departed, behold 
some of the guards came into the city, and told the 
chief priests all things that had been done. And 
they being assembled together with the ancients, tak- 
ing counsel, gave a great sum of money to the sol- 
diers, saying: Say you, His disciples came by night, 
and stole Him away when we were asleep. And if 
the governor shall hear of this, we will persuade him, 
and secure you. So they taking the money, did as 
they were taught : and this word was spread abroad 
among the Jews even unto this day." 





736 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

CHAPTER IV. 

JESUS APPEARS TO PETER ) AND TO TWO DISCIPLES 
ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS. 

Mark xvi. 12 , 13 ; Luke xxiv. 13-35 ; I- C° r - xv - 5~7- 

j^ETER and John came to the sepulchre of Jesus to- 
gether, as they had been together when He prayed 
in the garden of olives, when Peter denied Him, when 
He was transfigured, and when He raised the daugh- 
ter of Jairus to life. But Jesus appeared separately 
to Peter that day, just where and at what precise 
hour we know not, as the revelation of this event is 
but the brief word of St. Paul in his first Epistle to 
the Corinthians, "Hewas seen by Cephas," and the 
announcement of the Apostles to the disciples coming 
from Emmaus, "The Lord hath risen indeed and 
hath appeared to Simon." This makes it certain 
that the apparition to Peter preceded that to Cleo- 
phas and his companion, for they got the news of 
it from the eleven (Peter himself being therefore 
present) in exchange for the narrative of their ad- 
venture with the Saviour on the road to Emmaus. 

It was a touching act of love on the part of Jesus 
thus to honor Peter. As the penitent woman was the 
first in all His fellowship to receive His greeting, so 
among His chosen ones, His Apostles, the penitent 
Peter, who had been so weak and so guilty in the 
hour of trial but had wept so bitterly in his peni- 
tence, was chosen out of all the Apostles to first be- 
hold the Risen Lord. We may not doubt that our 
Saviour's purpose in this was not only to honor the 
primacy but also to assure Peter of perfect forgive- 
ness. 

Emmaus is identified by an immemorial Christian 



HE APPEARS NEAP EMMA VS. 

tradition with a village some seven 
or eight miles west of Jerusalem. 
Doubtless it was one of the places 
of refuge and rendezvous agreed 
upon by the disciples of the Lord 
during their terror at His death, be- 
ing all the safer because so insig- 
nificant in size. But the vision of 
Jesus to two of His disciples on the 
road between Kmmaus and the city 
has given this little hamlet a holy 
celebrity. St. Iyuke's account of 
this most instructive episode is very 
full, but St. Mark mentions it : * 'Af- 
ter that He appeared in another 
shape to two of them, as they were 
going into the country." 

The account of our Saviour's join- 
ing with the two disciples as they 
journeyed sadly on, His introducing 
Himself as a wayfarer like them- 
selves, and the conversation and in- 
cidents which followed, ending with 
the revelation of His identity, is one 
of the most beautiful narratives in 
all revelation, bringing out His pa- 
tience with His simple followers as 
well as their own crude notions 
about His mission. He found their 
disappointment at His failure and 
their horror at His death to be over- 
whelming. ' ' We hoped , ' ' they com- 
plained, " that it was He who should 
have redeemed Israel." Nor had 
the reports brought by the holy 

737 



And behold, two of them went the same 
day to a town which was sixty furlongs 
from Jerusalem, named Emmaus. And 
they talked together of all these things 
which had happened. And it came to pass, 
that while they talked and reasoned with 
themselves, Jesus himself also drawing 
near went with them. But their eyes were 
held that they should not know him. And 
he said to them : What are these dis- 
courses that you hold one with another as 
you walk, and are sad ? And the one of 
them, whose name was Cleophas, answer- 
ing, said to him : Art thou only a stranger 
in Jerusalem, and hast not known the 
things that have been done there in these 
days ? To whom he said : What things ? 
And they said : Concerning Jesus of Naza- 
reth, who was a prophet mighty in work 
and word, before God and all the people. 
And how our chief priests and princes de- 
livered him to be condemned to death, and 
crucified him. But we hoped that it was 
he that should have redeemed Israel : and 
now besides all this, to-day is the third day 
since these things were done. Yea, and 
certain women also of our company af- 
frighted us, who before it was light were at 
the sepulchre. Arid not finding his body, 
came, saying that they had also seen a 
vision of angels, who say that he is alive. 
And some of our people went to the 
sepulchre : and found it so as the women 
had said, but him they found not. Then 
he said to them : O foolish, and slow of 
heart to believe in all things which the 
prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ 
to have suffered these things, and so to 
enter into his glory ? And beginning at 
Moses and all the prophets, he expounded 
to them in all the scriptures the things that 
were concerning him. And they drew nigh 
to the town whither they were going : and 
he made as though he would go farther. 
But they constrained him, saying : Stay 
with us, because it is towards evening, and 
the day is now far spent. And he went in 
with them. And it came to pass, whilst he 
was at table with them, he took bread, and 
blessed and brake, and gave to them. 
And their eyes were opened, and they 
knew him : and he vanished out of their 
sight. And they said one to the other : 
Was not our heart burning within us, 
whilst he spoke in the way, and opened to 
us the scriptures ? And rising up the 
same hour they went back to Jerusalem : 
and they found the eleven gathered to- 
gether, and those that were with them, 
saying : The Lord is risen indeed, and 
hath appeared to Simon. And they told 
what things were done in the way : and how 
they knew him in the breaking of bread. 



738 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 




" He made as though He would 
go farther." 



^^gSSSm^ 




THE TRADITIONAL SITE OF EMMAUS 



women of the disappearance of the Sa- 
viour's body, nor their "vision of an- 
gels," nor even the reports of Peter 
and John, been able to console them ; 
they were but the more amazed and 
affrighted. Yet faith was not entirely 
dead in them — "He was a prophet 
mighty in work and word," but still 
the chief priests had delivered Him to 
crucifixion, His cause was lost and their 
hearts were sunk in despair. 

Jesus soon made those slow and fool- 
ish hearts burn with hope and love as 
He explained the Scriptures, beginning 
with Moses and going through the pro- 
phets, proving to them that the Redeemer was destined 
to be slain for His people and then to rise from the 
dead. This absorbing conversation gradually instilled 
into their souls a realization of the Resurrection, and 
was continued till they had constrained Jesus to share 
their evening meal. As this ended the Saviour dis- 
closed His glory to them. He did so in the act of 
breaking the Bread of the Eucharist to them, as many 
consider this to mean. But the very moment they knew 
Him and adored Him He vanished out of their sight. 
When the two disciples found themselves suddenly 
alone, their Master, known at last "in 
the breaking of bread," gone from 
them, gone as soon as known, they re- 
proached themselves that they had not 
recognized Him before by His burning 
words. The disciples' " eyes were held 
that they should not know Him," but 
the voice of a lover is not as easily dis- 
guised as his appearance. How the 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 739 

words of Jesus had vibrated in their hearts ! — a voice 
indeed from the tomb, had they but recognized it, but a 
living voice from a tomb erected into a throne. It is a 
curious illustration of the slowness of belief of the 
Apostles, that although they believed that the Lord 
had appeared to Peter, yet, as St. Mark tells us, they 
rejected the apparition on the road to Emmaus. For 
when the two disciples " going told it to the rest, 
neither did they believe them." Yet these witnesses 
were fresh from their interview with the Lord, having 
turned back quickly and hastened into the city with 
their news. But a still more amazing apparition was 
to be given to all the Apostles (except Thomas) later 
on that same night, coupled with the Apostolic power 
of pardoning sin. 



CHAPTER V. 

"WHOSE SINS YOU SHALL FORGIVK, THEY ARK FOR- 
GIVEN THEM. "—THE PROFESSION OF FAITH BY 
THOMAS. 

Luke xxiv. 36-43 ; John xx. 19-31. 

N the opening sentences of the Acts of 
the Apostles St. Luke speaks of Jesus as 
" for forty days appearing to the Apostles, 
and speaking to them of the kingdom of 
God"; that is to say, His visible king- 
dom, His Church. Some of the most im- 
portant doctrines and institutions of His religion were 
the subjects of His discourses, which doubtless in tone 
and feeling were most joyous, as in substance they were 
marvellously important. It is all given with the gentle 
power of their beloved Teacher of Galilee, but in 
addition there is a gladness in His looks, a triumph 




74° 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



in His voice unknown before the Resurrection. This 
gladness and this triumph He imparts to the very 
important teaching which accompanied His first ap- 
parition to the assembled Apostles. 

He began by the salutation " Peace be to you." 
And if ever men have known peace, calm, assured 
peace transcending words to express, it is after they 
have been forgiven their sins by the Sacrament of 
Penance. Jesus soothed the troubled minds of His 
followers as a preparation for receiving their ordina- 
tion for this sacrament, and a share of His own power 
of pardoning sin. They, at least some of them, 
thought He was but a fearful vision, and therefore 
He showed them His hands and feet, He spoke again 
and again to them, He ate and drank with them ; in 
every way He would restore as far as 
possible their old-time feeling of fa- 
miliar affection. Now, and after- 
wards in all His dealings with them, 
He would banish fear, and say, as 
He did to St. John in the Apocalypse 
(i. 17, 18), " Fear not. I am the 
first, and the last, and alive, and was 
dead, and behold I am living for ever 
and ever, and have the keys of death 
and hell." And, indeed, when the 
soul of Jesus resumed its bleeding 
and broken corpse and made it alive, 
it was as if God had breathed a new 
spirit into all human flesh, the spirit 
of pardon and peace. Hence it was 
after His Resurrection, that great 
inbreathing of new life, that Jesus 
chose to institute His sacrament of 
peace, and to breathe upon repen- 



Now whilst they were speaking these 
things, when it was late, that same day, 
being the first day of the week, and the 
doors were shut where the disciples were 
gathered together for fear of the Jews : 
Jesus came and stood in the midst, and 
said to them : Peace be to you ; it is I, 
fear not. But they being troubled and 
affrighted, supposed that they saw a spirit. 
And he said to them : Why are you 
troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your 
hearts ? See my hands and my feet, that 
it is I myself ; handle and see, for a spirit 
hath not flesh and bones, as you see me to 
have. And when he had said this he showed 
them his hands and his feet and his side. 
But while they yet believed not but wonder- 
ed for joy, he said : Have you here anything 
to eat ? And they offered him a piece of 
broiled fish and a honey-comb. And when 
he had eaten before them, taking the re- 
mains he gave to them. The disciples there- 
fore were glad when they saw the Lord. He 
said therefore to them again : Peace be to 
you. As the Father hath sent me, I also 
send you. When he had said this he 
breathed on them ; and he said to them : 
Receive ye the Holy Ghost ; whose sins 
you shall forgive, they are forgiven them ; 
and whose sins you shall retain, they are 
retained. 



PROFESSION OF FAITH BY THOMAS. 



741 



tant sinners the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of 
their sins. 

Of all the uses of Christ's sacred Brotherhood 
among men none can equal that of pardoning sin, an 
office which endows human friendship with a divine 
prerogative. His introductory words, " Peace be to 
you," foreshow His gift of tranquillity of soul in 
pardon and reconciliation ; His breathing of 
the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles assures ^v 
both the penitent and the Apostle of the 
divinity of the act performed ; the alternative 
of sin to be pardoned or sin to be retained 
demands as a necessary preliminary of pardon 
the holy but painful confession of sin and the 
explicit proof of sorrow : all preceded by the 
sublime authentication : "As the Father hath 
sent Me, I also send you." 

Thus Christ instituted that external rite 
which combines sorrow for sin and confession 
and absolution, and is called the Sacrament 
of Penance. It is the drawing of the peni- 
tent soul into a brother's counsel and admonition ; 
and especially into the pardon of a compassionate 
Father administered by the ambassador of Christ. 
Unless the Apostleship had thus been made what St. 
Paul terms a "ministry of reconciliation," the main 
purpose for which the Son of God had been sent 
by His Father would have sadly halted in its fulfil- 
ment. 

The next appearance of Jesus which is recorded 
happened a week afterwards, and was given to all 
the disciples. It was for the sake of the holy virtue 
of Christian faith, which had been wounded by 
Thomas. He was but an exaggerated specimen of 
the unreasonable incredulity of all the Apostles, but 




My Lord, and my God." 



742 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



Now Tnomas, one of the twelve, who is 
called Didymus, was not with them when 
Jesus came. The other disciples therefore 
said to him : We have seen the Lord. But 
he said to them : Except I shall see in his 
hands the print of the nails, and put my 
finger into the place of the nails, and put 
my hand into his side, I will not believe. 
And after eight days, again his disciples 
were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus 
cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in 
the midst, and said : Peace be to you. 
Then he saith to Thomas : Put in thy 
finger hither, and see my hands, and bring 
hither thy hand and put it into my side ; 
and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas 
answered, and said to him : My Lord, and 
my God. Jesus saith to him : Because 
thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast be- 
lieved : blessed are they that have not 
seen, and have believed. 



his sin of unbelief was so conspicu- 
ous that Jesus made of it an occa- 
sion (in His usual loving way) of 
public admonition to him and of in- 
struction to all. He elicited from 
Thomas's obstinate heart a profes- 
sion of faith in terms most emphatic 
and plainly affirmative of His divin- 
ity. He grants the doubter all the 
conditions of physical sight and 
touch he had insisted on in his dis- 
pute with his brethren; but poor 
Thomas is overwhelmed with re- 
morse and flooded with an overpow- 
ering sense of faith. " My Lord and my God ! " he 
exclaims. He is the first of a long line of mighty 
believers who, like St. Augustine, fight hard in the 
beginning for the pretensions of reason, only in the 
end to yield the more absolutely to the prerogatives 
of faith.* 

The Master, we must carefully notice, rebuked 
the doubting Apostle very severely, and yet did not 
rebuke the cowardly one after his denial. Coward- 
ice is a detestable vice, and in Peter's case the offence 
was an aggravated one. But hardness and slowness 
of belief is a form of pride hateful to God and man, 

* Immediately following this evidence of Christ's divinity, St. John 
adds the following words : " Many other signs also did Jesus in the sight 
of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are 
written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God ; and 
that believing you may have life in His name." This sounds as if intended 
to be the closing sentence of the Gospel of St. John, which nevertheless 
has another chapter. Much controversy has taken place over this, which 
we may leave to learned critics, contenting ourselves with the undoubted 
certainty of the authenticity of the last chapter, which may have been 
added to his work by its author some time after its original composi- 
tion. 



JESUS APPEARS TO SEVEN APOSTLES. 743 

and contempt for the testimony of brethren is ominous 
of the loss of faith, a calamity involving every other 
loss. Even a guiltless natural tendency to scepti- 
cism is a misfortune of the worst kind, and wilful 
doubt in religious matters is an unspeakable crime. 



A 

I 



CHAPTER VI. 

JESUS APPEARS TO SEVEN APOSTLES AT THE SEA OF 
TIBERIAS. — THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 

Matt, xxviii. 16 ; John xxi. 1-25. 

ST T is evident that the Apostles were, much of the 
time, left by Jesus at their own disposal, either 
in quiet waiting for the L,ord, or engaged in their 
ordinary occupation of humble fishermen. Jesus 
appeared to them at short intervals, enlighten- 
ing their faith by His instructions, and sinking 
deeper and deeper into their souls the wonder 
and awe and thanksgiving of His resurrection. "After 
this Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the 
sea of Tiberias. And He showed Himself after this 
manner. There were together Simon Peter, and 
Thomas who is called Didymus, and Nathanael who 
was of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and 
two others of his disciples. Simon Peter saith to them : 
I go a fishing. They say to him : We also come with 
thee. And they went forth and entered into the ship : 
and that night they caught nothing. But when the 
morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore : yet the 
disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus therefore 
said to them: Children, have you any meat? They 
answered Him : No. He saith to them : Cast the net 
on the right side of the ship ; and you shall find. 
They cast therefore : and now they were not able to 



•**N 




" Jesus stood on the 
shore." 



744 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

draw it for the multitude of fishes. That disciple 
therefore whom Jesus loved, said to Peter : It is the 
Ivord. Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the 
Ivord, girt his coat about him (for he was naked) 
and cast himself into the sea. But the other dis- 
ciples came in the ship (for they were not far from 
the land, but as it were two hundred cubits) dragging 
the net with fishes. As soon then as they came to 
land, they saw hot coals lying, and a fish laid there- 
on, and bread. Jesus saith to them : Bring hither of 
the fishes which you have now caught. Simon Pe- 
ter went up, and drew the net to land, full of 
great fishes, one hundred fifty-three. And although 
there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus 
saith to them : Come, and dine. And none of them 
who were at meat, durst ask Him : Who art Thou ? 
knowing that it was the L,ord. And Jesus cometh and 
taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish in like man- 
ner. This is now the third time that Jesus was 
manifested to His disciples, after He was risen from 
the dead." 

John, it is perceived, was the first to recognize 
Jesus when He appeared in the dawning sunlight. 
This was by virtue of love's quick instinct. But 
none of those timid hearts dared address Him, though 
He had addressed them with the familiar term "chil- 
dren." Then, when they had grown more familiarized 
to His presence and when they had eaten their simple 
meal of bread and fish, the Saviour undertook the 
purpose He had in view in this apparition, that is 
to say, the appointment, now for the third time, of 
Peter to be the chief pastor of His Church. 

That Apostle's heart must have quaked within 
him when Jesus began solemnly, "Simon, son of 
John, lovest thou Me?" for he might have expected 



THE PRIMACY OF PETER 



745 



When, therefore, they had dined, Jesus 
said to Simon Peter : Simon son of John, 
lovest thou me more than these ? He said 
to him : Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I 
love thee. He said to him: Feed my 
lambs. He said to him again: Simon 
son of John, lovest thou me ? He said to 
him : Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love 
thee. He said to him : Feed my lambs. 
He said to him the third time : Simon son 
of John, lovest thou me ? Peter was 
grieved, because he had said to him the 
third time, Lovest thou me ? And he said 
to him: Lord, thou knowest all things: 
thou knowest that I love thee. He said to 
him: Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, 1 say 
to thee : when thou wast younger, thou 
didst gird thyself, and didst walk where 
thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, 
thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and an- 
other shall gird thee, and lead thee whither 
thou wouldst not. And this he said, sig- 
nifying by what death he should glorify 
God. 



a public reproach from his Master 
for his three-fold denial of Him. 
No, it was not reproach ; it was the 
bestowal of additional honor that the 
Master meant to introduce by His 
question. He gave Peter three 
happy opportunities to openly pro- 
claim his love, the only public atone- 
ment ever made or ever asked for 
his three miserable denials ; and af- 
ter each profession of love He charges 
him with the shepherd's office over 
His entire flock of sheep and lambs. 

Peter proves his humility by the 
unboastful tone of his answers. 
Once he had shown contempt for his 
brethren : ' ' Although all shall be scandalized in 
Thee, yet not I"; and afterwards he fell far below 
all of them except Judas. Now, not even the Lord 
Himself shall force him to so much as compare his 
loyalty with that of his brother Apostles ; much less 
will he claim a love for Jesus greater than theirs, 
though the Lord plainly presumes him to possess it. 
Yet true love he eagerly does claim, and appeals to 
the Saviour Himself, who is reading his heart : ' ' Thou 
knowest that I love Thee." And this is repeated 
thrice, the third time being most emphatic, for 
" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third 
time: Lovest thou Me? And he said to Him: Lord, 
Thou knowest all things ; Thou knowest that I love 
Thee." 

Of course the commandment to feed the lambs and 
the sheep of Christ means the bestowal of the office 
of shepherd, to lead the sheep in and out, to find 
them pasture, to guard them against wolves, to live 



746 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

and die for them (John x.); in a word, to rule 
and to teach the Christian Church. Peter is given 
the same rights over the Christian people that the 
shepherd has over the sheep and lambs of the flock. 
In the work of teaching, of enlightening men's souls 
with the truth of Christ, and in that of nourishing 
them with all the means of grace and virtue ordained 
for their eternal welfare, Peter was invested with the 
chief office among the Apostles. The unfailing truth 
of Peter, the inalienable and paramount authority of 
Peter and of Peter's office, were thus established, 
forming the headship of the Church of Christ. This 
primacy was fitly introduced by a triple profession of 
love for Jesus on the part of its recipient, for it is 
essentially a primacy of love. 

No institution of Christ is rooted deeper in His 
Church than the supremacy of Peter and his infallible 
teaching authority. Besides his appointment on this 
occasion as chief shepherd, he had already been made 
the bearer of the keys of Christ's visible kingdom, 
and the immovable foundation of the Church as well 
as its impregnable rampart against the gates of hell. 
He had been appointed, moreover, the confirmer of 
his brethren. Besides these three distinct investitures 
of office, all of them being in addition to the ordinary 
Apostolic dignity, Peter is in many ways preferred 
before his brethren. He is named first in St. Mat- 
thew's list of the Apostles, in St. I^uke's in the Acts ; 
he was selected first by the Master at His solemn call- 
ing of the Twelve on the lake shore ; his name was 
changed by Jesus from Simon to that of The Rock, 
as Jehovah had changed the names of Abraham and 
of Jacob ; Jesus selects Peter's boat as His pulpit ; 
commands him to make the miraculous draught of 
fishes; cures his wife's mother; bids him walk on the 



THE PRIMACY OF PETER 



747 



water ; and associates Himself with Peter in the pay- 
ment of the tax. As Peter had been inspired from 
on high to proclaim the Apostle's faith, l 'Thou art 
the Christ the Son of the living God," so he is 
moved habitually to be the spokesman of his breth- 
ren : "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the 
words of eternal life " ; ' ' How often shall my brother 
offend me and I shall forgive him?" "Lord, behold 
we have left all things and followed Thee " ; " Rabbi, 
behold the fig-tree which thou didst curse, it is 
withered." He was the first whose feet Jesus wash- 
ed ; he was the first Apostle to enter the sepulchre, 
and the first one of them who saw the risen 
Saviour ; the only one whose death is especial- ^ 
ly predicted by Jesus ; all this though an ob- 
stinate man and thrice foresworn against his 
Master. And when the Master was ascended 
into heaven Peter is instinctively the leader, 
and is acknowledged so to be : he presides 
at the election of Matthias ; after the coming 
of the Holy Ghost he preaches the first sermon 
converting three thousand ; he preaches 
the second sermon, converting five 
thousand ; he works the first miracle 
at the gate of the Temple ; he preaches 
a great sermon to the people in ex- 
planation of it ; he is the official defender of the 
Church before the Sanhedrin ; he punishes Ana- 
nias and Saphira ; he heals the sick by his very 
shadow ; he is released from prison by an angel ; he 
is consulted by St. Paul during fifteen days ; Peter 
it is who receives the revelation of the full and 
immediate admission of the gentiles to the Church ; 
he raises Dorcas from the dead ; he presides at the 
council of the Apostles at Jerusalem; he condemns 




It is the Lord." 



748 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 
the first heresy, that of Simon: 




Cast himself into the sea 



and suppresses 
Magus. 

All this is the outline of Peter's dignity as shownj 
in Scripture. But besides teaching us by his written] 
word, God teaches us also by His providential^ 
care of His Church. And if both the direct and the 
cumulative force of revealed truth as above sunimar-s 
ized is overwhelming for Peter's office, so is the in- 
terposition of an overruling Providence. God's provi-1 
dence has favored Peter's successors, the Bishops of 3 
Rome, in the most striking manner. For, as all his-i 
torians now admit, Peter established his bishopric in: 
Rome, which became the arena of conflict betweenj 
Christianity as represented by Peter's successors, and 
paganism as championed by the Roman Empire. The 
Bishops of Rome marshalled the Christian forces; 
which conquered paganism ; they propagated Christ's; 
religion to the ends of the imperial do-: 
minions ; they steadied and rectified the; 
development of Christ's doctrine ; they, 
shook off safely the contagion of decaying 
heathen civilization ; they converted the! 
barbarous tribes of the North, the ances- 
tors of the modern nations, and they civ- 
ilized them ; the Popes saved the Scrip- 
tures, saved the faith in the Trinity, in 
the Incarnation, in the grace of Christ ; 
saved Christendom from Mohammedanism. 
The Popes and their adherents were the 
entire Christian Church from Nero till 
Martin Luther. 

Thus was Peter, and in him his suc- 
cessors, honored by the Saviour of the 
world and the Founder of the Christiar 
Church. And when Jesus had done hin 



THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 



749 




" None of them . . durst 

Who art Thou ? knowing- it was the 



this singular honor, He pre- 
dicted the manner of his death, 
that he should be seized and 
bound and martyred in his old 
age for the name of Christ. 

Now follows a singular epi- 
sode in that very beautiful 
union between John and Peter, 
between the types of divine love 
and divine sovereignty, a union 
begun long before in Galilee, 
but made especially close after 
the last supper. 

Jesus having conferred the 
primacy on Peter, led him apart, 
saying to him, "Follow Me, : ' 
and the other Apostles came 
on after them. Now Peter hoped that John should 
also be given some special dignity, and so he pluck- 
ed up courage to hint at it. " Peter turning about, 
saw that disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also 
leaned on His breast at supper, and said : Lord, who 
is he that shall betray Thee? Him therefore when 
Peter had seen, he saith to Jesus : Lord, and what shall 
this man do?" But our Saviour rebuked him : "Jesus 
saith to him : So I will have him to remain till I 
come, what is it to thee? follow thou Me." 

Hence Peter's wish to know what high place John, 
the Lord's favorite and the favorite of all his breth- 
ren, should have in the new kingdom was very 
natural. The answer really meant that no special 
office was to be given John. But the Lord's words, 
" So I will have him to remain until I come," to hearts 
eager for mysteries and marvels, seemed to mean the 
gift of perpetual life on earth till the day of judg- 



ask Him 
Lord." 



75° 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



merit. This error St. John himself takes the trouble 
to set right. And then he ends his gospel, solemnly 
affirming his truthfulness as an evangelist, and also 
the fragmentary nature of his and every other account 
of the Saviour's life and teaching. "This saying 
therefore went abroad among the brethren, that that 
disciple should not die. And Jesus did not say to 
him : He should not die ; but, So I will have him 
to remain till I come, what is it to thee ? This is 
that disciple who giveth testimony of these things, 
and hath written these things : and we know that 
his testimony is true. But there are also many other 
things which Jesus did : which if they were written 
every one, the world itself, I think, would not be 
able to contain the books that should be written." 






i 




\JESUS APPEARS TO A GREAT MULTITUDE. 751 



CHAPTER VII. 

JESUS APPEARS TO A GREAT MUI/TITUDE ON A MOUN- 
TAIN IN GAIvII.EE. — APPARITION TO ST. JAMES. — 
THE COMMISSION OP THE TEACHING CHURCH. 

Matt, xxviii. 16-20 ; Mark xvi. 14-18; Luke xxiv. 
4.4.-49 ; Acts i. 4, 5/ /. Cor. xv. 6, 7. 

It was only after Easter week that the Apostles, 
according to the Saviour's original direction, made 
their way into Galilee, where, as we have already seen, 
He appeared to them by the Lake of Genesareth. And 
now we have St. Matthew's account of another and 
very public apparition, of which St. Paul also makes 
mention in his first Epistle to the Corinthians. " And 
the eleven disciples," says St. Matthew, "went into 
Galilee, unto the mountain where Jesus had appointed 
them." And St. Paul : "Then was He seen by more 
than five hundred brethren at once." Again St. Mat- 
thew : "And seeing Him, they adored; but some 
doubted." This great assemblage was probably 
selected carefully by the Apostles as they passed 
among Christ's followers on their journey from Jeru- 
salem to Galilee. 

St. Paul is, as we have already noticed, our only 
authority for the separate apparition to St. James 
(tradition says it was James son of Alpheus, James 
the younger). It is related in the same place in 
First Corinthians : " After that He was seen by James, 
then by all the Apostles." 

It was probably at Jerusalem (though St. Matthew's 
account would seem to place it in Galilee) that our 
Saviour appointed His Apostles to assemble for His 
last interview with them previous to His Ascension. 
The occasion was a solemn one, and He chose it to 



752 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



once more convey to them, in a full 
statement, His oft-repeated purpose 
to teach the race of man the saving 
truths of God by their instrumen- 
tality. Never so solemnly, so fully, 
now when His departure was at 
hand, had He invested them with 
the Catholic Apostolate. 

Never before had His universal 
office as head of the entire human 
race been so powerfully expressed. 
All men are His, for He has all 
power over them in heaven and on 
earth ; they are all to be taught His 
truth by the Apostleship He has 
founded, or rather, as the Greek 
text shows, all men are not simply 
to be taught but to be made disci- 
ples of. All truth is to be made the 
common heritage by this organized 
teaching body, the treasures of 
divine wisdom thus systematically 
to be given forth among all nations. 
The teaching now begun shall last 
all ages in the full vigor of a living 
society perpetually safeguarded by 
His own personal presence. 
In this Apostolic charter we are struck with the 
overpowering sense of universality : All Power, All 
Nations, All Truth, All Ages. There is no room 
for national churches in Christ's broad plan, nor for 
the expedients and shifts of those who would pick 
and choose what is timely and let the rest lie in 
abeyance — no room for personal churches ; no man 
may be a church to himself. God the Son is teacher 



At length [i.e., lastly] he appeared to the 
eleven as they were at table : and he up- 
braided them with their incredulity and 
hardness of heart, because they did not be- 
lieve them who had seen him after he was 
risen again. And he said to them : Going 
therefore teach ye all nations : baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching 
them to observe all things whatsoever I 
have commanded you : and behold I am 
with you all days, even to the consumma- 
tion of the world. Go ye into the whole 
world and preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture. He that believeth and is baptized, 
shall be saved : but he that believeth not 
shall be condemned. And these signs shall 
follow them that believe : In my name 
they shall cast out devils : they shall speak 
with new tongues ; they shall take up 
serpents : and if they shall drink any 
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them : 
they shall lay their hands upon the sick, 
and they shall recover. These are the 
words which I spoke to you while I was yet 
wiih you, and all things must needs be ful- 
filled, which are written in the law of 
Moses, and in the prophets, and in the 
psalms, concerning me. Then he opened 
their understanding, that they might under- 
stand the scriptures. And he said to them : 
Thus it is written, and thus it behoved 
Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the 
dead the third day : And that penance and 
the remission of sins should be preached in 
his name unto all nations, beginning at 
Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these 
things. And I send the promise of my 
Father upon you : but stay you in the city, 
till you be endued with power from on 
high. For John indeed, baptized with 
water • but you shall be baptized with the 
Holy Ghost, not many days hence. 



COMMISSION OF THE TEACHING CHURCH. 



753 



of the whole world and of all truth and for all time, 
and by an organism, His Church, whose universality 
and perpetuity and authority shall always be in con- 
trast with the pettiness of human institutions and 
methods. 

Jesus thus founded a public society of teaching 
ministers ; perpetual ' ' until the consummation of the 
world"; infallible, for "behold I am with you all 
days " ; of one and the same doctrine in every genera- 
tion, "teaching them all things whatsoever I have 
commanded you." And as a matter of fact He has 
made His word good, and His Catholic and Apostolic 
Church has ever been the standard and rule of the 
Christian faith, continues to be so in our own time, 
and will ever remain so. 




754 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

CHAPTER VIII. 

JESUS ASCENDS INTO HEAVEN. 
Mark xvi. ig ; Luke xxiv. S°~S3 > Acts i. 3-12. 

We have seen that it was not by continuous pres- 
ence but by appearing on separate occasions that 
Jesus was with His Apostles after His resurrection, 
though His farewell interview was more protracted ; 
and at each apparition He tarried long enough to 
teach important doctrines and fill their hearts with 
great joy. On the resurrection day itself He ap- 
peared to Mary Magdalene, then to the other women, 
next to Peter, afterwards in the evening to the two 
disciples on the road to Emmaus, and finally, late at 
night, to the eleven (except Thomas) in a room in 
the city. The following Sunday He appeared in the 
same place to the Apostles (including Thomas) , then 
to seven of them near the Lake of Genesareth, after- 
wards on a mountain in Galilee to a multitude of 
disciples, and also separately to James. His final 
apparition was His solemn leave-taking immedi tely 
preceding the Ascension. Thus we have ten separate, 
distinctly recorded, occasions of the risen Saviour's 
appearance to His followers. 

St. Paul's testimony to these events is given in 
his first letter to the Corinthians, being offered to 
his converts as evidence of the Lord's resurrection: 
"He was seen by Cephas, and after that by the 
eleven. Then was He seen by more than five hun- 
dred brethren at once, of whom many remain until 
this present, and some are fallen asleep. After that 
He was seen by James." There is no mention of 
the apparition to James in the Gospel narrative, which 
is one reason more for supposing that on yet other 



JESUS ASCENDS INTO HEA VEN. 



755 



unrecorded occasions our Saviour appeared to His 
disciples. 

St. Luke, in the Book of the Acts of the Apos- 
tles, says of this wondrous period between our Sa- 
viour's resurrection and ascension that, "He showed 
Himself alive after His passion, by many proofs, for 
forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the 
Kingdom of God." He had mainly concerned Him- 
self during this last era of His mission with the 
union of the inner life of His grace with its out- 
ward life in His Church. First, He shaped with final 
perfection the public incorporation of His Apostles 
into the teaching Church ; second, He placed Peter 
at the head by a most emphatic gift of primacy; 
third, He instituted by repeated insistence the Sac- 
rament of Baptism, that external ordinance for the 
admission of new members into His faith and Church ; 
fourth, He instituted in the Sacrament of Penance the 
rite of reconciliation of sinful but penitent members. 

There was much in this last part of His 
teaching, both ,by its sublimity and the daz 
zling glory which often encir- 
cled Him, which confused the 
minds of the Vpostles. He 
awed them as He had never 
done before. He was with them 
as ' ' the living among the dead, ' ' 
and they felt the contrast too 
strongly to be quite at home 
with Him. If in former days 
His demeanor was so 
kindly as to attract lit- 
tle children and to 
stimulate petitions for 

miracles, now the great "While they looked on, He was raised up, . . . out of their sight.' 




75$ LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

Healer, though still most benignant in every look and 
word, is yet haloed around with majesty. 

His beauty is greater than ever before, and it is 
a new beauty. The splendor of divinity is more 
clearly seen in Jesus now because His body is clari- 
fied — God shines more perfectly through it. God's 
love for man pours out of the five wounds, pours out 
of the eyes of Jesus, and speaks forth in the words 
of the new-made Man-God. This hindered an inti- 
mate and familiar union with the Master. But He 
will soon give place to the Comforter, whose inward 
love will bring Jesus home to every heart, and whose 
life-giving power will make their little brotherhood, 
the newly formed Church, the mystical body of Christ : 
a closer union between God and man than that even 
with the present Master, but one more spiritual and 
more capable of developing responsive love. 

Drawing towards the end, ' ( He led them out as 
far as Bethania," or, as it may be understood, along 
the road towards that village, and back again to 
Mount Olivet. The Kingdom of God had been His 
constant theme, but never had He been able quite 
to exclude from the disciples' minds the thought of 
the kingdom of Israel. "They therefore who were 
come together, asked Him saying : Lord, wilt Thou 
at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" 
They still longed for the fierce joy of militant Israel, 
while He could only give them the plaintive joy of 
victorious crucifixion. Jesus in His answer does not 
rebuke them, nor does He dwell upon what in fact 
His Father had willed to keep secret — the date and 
other circumstances of the restoration of the people 
of Israel to the divine favor. " But He said to them : 
It is not for you to know the times or moments, which 
the Father hath put in His own power." And then 



JESUS ASCENDS INTO HEA VEN 757 

He brings back their attention to the Kingdom of 
God, and how, centring in Jerusalem, it should by 
their means become His universal empire. " But you 
shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming 
upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in 
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even 
to the uttermost part of the earth." First, therefore, 
a full Apostolate should be made in Jerusalem and 
Judea, afterwards in Samaria, as among a people inter- 
mediate between the Jews and the Gentiles, and then, 
beginning with the martyrdom of Stephen and the 
baptism of Cornelius by Peter after a special revela- 
tion, and finally by the conversion and Apostleship of 
Saul of Tarsus, the whole world should be evangel- 
ized. 

All this teaching of Jesus had been burned into the 
souls of His followers by the fire of His glorified 
state, painful in its intensity but also joyful and tri- 
umphant. The forty days of it had soon rolled away, 
marked by the quickly recurring events of His ap- 
paritions. How would it all end at last? — they must 
have asked each other this question very often, hard- 
ly daring to ask Himself. "It is expedient that I 
go," He had said; and "If I go not the Paraclete 
will not come," He had insisted. But just how and 
where would He depart ? 

Very simply did He take His leave of them, and 
most lovingly. He led them out of the city to His 
old familiar place of prayer on Mount Olivet; then 
\ He gave them directions to return to the city after 
I He was gone and await the Holy Spirit ; after that 
i He lifted His hands over their kneeling forms and 
I affectionately blessed them. They then saw upon His 
i face the glow of heavenly ecstasy, they saw Him gra- 
i dually rise above the earth. As they gazed at His de- 



758 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

parting form, an indescribable awe possessed their souls, 
a bright vapor overspread them, and Jesus their Master 
was gone. Then the> saw two bright angels stand- 
ing by. These spoke words of comfort to them and 
promised them the Lord's second coming, and disap- 
peared. 

They shared His triumph in their hearts and 
minds, they were overjoyed at His glorious victor}' ; 
but this was not unmingled with a feeling of sad- 
ness. They felt that as His triumph was gained by 
sorrow, suffering, and death, their own and that of 
the Church He had founded must be sanctified and 
prepared for the heavenly nuptials in no other way. 
The winding sheet of Jesus was to be the bridal veil 
of the Church ; this they now fully realized. 

The Ascension of Jesus is the completion of the 

design of God in raising Him from the dead. Th< 

place for deathless bodies is not earth but heaven 

The triumph over death and hell must be celebrated 

, in Paradise, amid the hosts of un 



looking up to heaven ? This Jesus who is 
taken up from you into heaven, shall so 
come as you have seen him going into 
heaven. And they adoring, went back into 
Jerusalem with great joy, from the mount 
which is called Olivet, which is nigh Jeru- 
salem, within a Sabbath-day's journey. 
And they were continually in the temple, 
praising and blessing God. Amen. 



And the Lord Jesus after he had spoken d • spirits and all tnat J esus can 

these things to them, lifting up his hands J & r ' J 

he blessed them. And it came to pass promise us is that when there shal 

whilst he blessed them he departed from 

them ; and while they looked on. he was be a new eartn and sky, tnen He 

raised up, and a cloud received him out of , .. come ap-ain as now He crlori 
their sight; and [hej was earned up to snan come again as now ne giori 

heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of ouslv ascends, and, making all thingf! 
God. And while they were beholding him ■> . 7 

going up to heaven, behold two men stood new, He shall renew our bodies in 

by them in white garments: Who also TT , , TT . 

said : Ye men of Galilee, why stand you like manner as He has renewed His 

own. Meantime we are to wait anc 
pray and work and suffer as did 
the Apostles, till the coming of the 
Saviour. 

How much easier it was for thei 

to realize the glories of immortalit 

after the Ascension, and to have faith in Christ' 

eternal kingdom, when in their ascending Maste 



JESUS ASCENDS INTO HEA VEN. 759 

they saw what quality of power and of glory is in 
store for even our bodily immortality ! 

The Apostles returned to Jerusalem, the bright 
cloud still dazzling their eyes, and the angels' promise 
of the Lord's return to earth — promise upon promise 
it was and often renewed — still softly echoing in their 
hearts. 

They knew that the seraphs were now adoring 
their Master in the highest heavens, and they 
had not forgotten His word, " I will not leave 
you orphans " ; with longing souls they gather- 
ed all the discipleship, including the Mother of 
Jesus and the other holy women, into the place appoint- 
ed for their waiting, and there they prayed to Jesus and 
communed with each other till the coming of the Holy 
Spirit, the company thus assembled numbering about 
one hundred and twenty. During the regular hours 
of morning and evening prayer in the Temple, some 
of their number visited the holy place and fervently 
joined in the public devotions. A new-born spirit 
of affection and one-mindedness was now in control. «!!*2__« » 

Yet they must have felt empty and forsaken dur- 
ing those ten days. It is hard to live on promises, 
even God's. It did seem to them like orphanhood, that 
the Lord after His own triumph, His own spiritual- 
ization even of body, His own security from death 
and woe, should be lifted up and taken from them 
and hidden from their eyes, wafted away into the 
distant and silent heavens. Their consolation never 
could have been perfect after Ascension day. But 
soon the Holy Ghost came to them, and infused His 
glorious and militant zeal into their hearts. 




to Heaven." 



760 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE ELECTION OF MATTHIAS. — THE DESCENT OF THE 
HOLY GHOST. — THE FIRST PREACHING OF THE 
APOSTEES. 

Mark xvi. 20 ; Acts i. 13-47. 

Our concluding chapter is the inspired history of 
the Descent of the Holy Ghost and of the beginnings 
of the Church of Christ in Jerusalem. 

' ' And when they were come in, they went up into an upper 
room, where abode Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip 
and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alpheus and 
Simon Zelotes, and Jude the brother of James. All these were 
persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary 
the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. In those days Peter 
rising up in the midst of the brethren, said : (now the number 
of persons together was about an hundred and twenty, ) Men 
brethren, the scripture must needs be fulfilled, which the Holy 
Ghost spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, 
who was the leader of them that apprehended Jesus : who was 
numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. And 
he indeed hath possessed a field of the reward of iniquity, and 
being hanged, burst asunder in the midst : and all his bowels 
gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem : so that the same field was called in their tongue 
Haceldama, that is to say, the field of blood. For it is written 
in the book of Psalms : Let their habitation become desolate, and 
let there be none to dwell therein. And his bishoprick let an- 
other take. Wherefore of these men who have companied with 
us, all the time that the Lord Jesus came in and went out 
among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day 
wherein he was taken up from us, one of these must be made 
a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, 
Joseph, called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 
And praying they said : Thou, Lord., who knowest the hearts 
of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen, to 
take the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which 
Judas hath by transgression fallen, tLat he might go to hi* 



THE DESCENT OF THE HOL V GHOST. 761 

! own place. And they gave them lots, and the lot fell upon 
1 Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. 

" And when the days of the pentecost were accomplished, 
they were altogether in one place : And suddenly there came 
a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it 
filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there 
appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat 
upon every one of them : And they were all filled with the 
Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, 
according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak. Now there 
were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation 
under heaven. And when this was noised abroad, the multitude 
came together, and were confounded in mind, because that every 
man heard them speak in his own tongue. And they were all 
amazed and wondered, saying : Behold are not all these, that 
speak, Galileans? And how have we heard, every man our own 
tongue wherein we were born ? Parthians, and Medes, and 
Blamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappa- 
docia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphilia, Egypt, and 
the parts of I,ibya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, 
Jews also, and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians : we have heard 
them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God. 
And they were all astonished, and wondered, saying one to an- 
other : What meaneth this ? But others mocking said : These 
men are full of new wine. But Peter standing up with the 
eleven, lifted up his voice, and spoke to them : Ye men of Judea, 
and all you that dwell in Jerusalem, be this known to you, 
and with your ears receive my words. For these are not drunk, 
as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 
But this is that which was spoken of by the prophet Joel : And 
it shall come to pass, in the last days, (saith the Lord) I will pour 
out of my Spitit upon all flesh : and your sons and your daughters 
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your 
old men shall dream dreams. And upon my servants indeed, 
and upon my handmaids will I pour out in those days of my 
Spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the 
heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath ; blood and fire, 
and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, 
and the moon into blood, before the great and manifest day 
of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass i that whosoever 
shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Ye men 
©f Israel, hear these words ; Jesus of Nsasrslk, a maa approved 



762 LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

of God among you, by miracles and wonders and signs, which. 
God did by him in the midst of you, as you also know : This 
same being delivered up, by the determinate counsel and fore- 
knowledge of God, you by the hands of wicked men have cruci- 
fied and slain. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the 
sorrows of hell, as it was impossible that he should be holden 
by it. For David saith concerning him : I foresaw the Lord be- 
fore my face, because he is at my right hand that I may not 
be moved. For this my heart hath been glad, and my tongue 
hath rejoiced : moreover my flesh also shall rest in hope. Be- 
cause thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer thy Holy 
One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways 
of life : thou shall make me full of joy with thy countenance. 
Ye men brethren, let me freely speak to you of the patriarch 
David ; that he died and was buried ; and his sepulchre is with 
us to this present day. Whereas therefore he was a prophet, 
and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath that of the 
fruit of his loins one should sit upon his throne ; foreseeing 
this, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ. For neither was 
he left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus 
hath God raised again, whereof all we are witnesses. Being 
exalted therefore by the right hand of God, and having re- 
ceived of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath 
poured forth this which you see and hear. For David ascended 
not into heaven; but he himself . sai'd : The Lord said to my 
Lord, Ml thou on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy 
footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know most cer- 
tainly that God hath made both Lord, and Christ, this same 
Jesus, whom you have crucified. Now when they had heard 
these things they had compunction in their heart, and said to 
Peter and to the rest of the Apostles : What shall we do, men 
and brethren ? But Peter said to them : Do penance, and be 
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the 
remission of your sins : and you shall receive the gift of the 
Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you. and to your children, 
and to all that are far off, whomsoever the Lord our God shall 
call. And with very many other words did he testify and ex- 
hort them, saying : Save yourselves from this perverse genera- 
tion. They therefore that received his word were baptized : and 
there were added in that day about three thousand souls. And 
they were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the 
communication of the breaking of bread, and in prayers. And 



FIRST PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES. 



763 



fear came upon every soul : many wonders also and signs were 
done by the Apostles in Jerusalem, and there was great fear in 
all. And all they that believed were together, and had all things 
common. Their possessions and goods they sold, and divided 
them to all, according as every one had need. And continuing 
daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from 
house to house, they took their meat with gladness and simplicity 
of heart : praising God and having favor with all the people. 
And the Lord increased daily together such as should be saved. 

' ' And [the Apostles and disciples] going forth 
preached everywhere, the I,ord working withal and 
confirming the word with signs that followed." 



<PHB END, 




EPILOGUE. 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD, 



"YE SHALL BE AS GODS." 

We need to appreciate that the doctrine of the In- 
carnation is not a hard one to accept. There is no Q od and man in one 
revolt in the natural mind against the thought of person is not incredi- 
God becoming man. It is not a thought which e * 
arouses aversion in us. Indeed, we give it welcome. 
That man should be raised to a participation in the 
divine nature is a difficult thing to understand, if the 
word is meant to imply a full and clear compre- 
hension. But the human race or any part of it has 
never felt it to be incredible. 

To inquire into this favorable tendency of our 
minds towards the Incarnation is our first task. We 
shall, I trust, find it of much interest to discuss why become divine, 
men in all ages have seemed readily inclined to be- 
lieve that God and man could in some way be 
brought together on terms of equality. I do not 
mean to take the reader over the long windings of 
historical research ; my purpose is not a historical 
treatise. But it is essential to realize that reaching 
after the possession of the divine is a distinct fact 
of human experience. In bringing this out, how- 
ever, I am not going to exclude the historical argu- 
ment for the Incarnation. To prove that any being 
comes from God on a special mission, miracles are 
required ; that is to say, the special display of the 
divine power. Much more necessary are they if he 
claims to be God himself. We affirm Jesus of Naza- 



ii LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, 

Definition of the in- reth to be true God > the Creator and Lord of al 

carnation. things, begotten of the Father before all ages, and 

one and the same being with Him, born of Mary 

in the fulness of time ; in essence, power, wisdom, ! 

goodness and joy, true God. 

The sense of want in man is of such a depth as' 
The yearning; of man to be the universal argument for his need of more 
for God. than human fruition, and in the moral order it is \ 

the irrefragable proof of both his native dignity and 
his natural incapacity so to demean himself as to 
be worthy of it. This want is implanted in man, 
and it attests the need of God in a higher degree 
than nature can provide. God plants this yearning 
in the human soul as a gift superadded to the high 
endowments of innate nobility. The best spirits God 
ever made have always felt this huge universe no 
bigger than a bird-cage. But during the ages prior 
to Christ's coming human aspiration had beat its 
wings against the sky in vain. 

When God made man to His image and likeness, 
D^inhu^nity. He impregnated His creature with an infusion of 
the divine life; what cannot God do with man when 
He has in him His own divine life to work with ? | 
" He breathed into his face the breath of life " (Gen. 
ii. 7). What life? A twofold life, the human and 
the divine ; so that God's dealings with man are 
with a noble being whose every act, if true to his 
native nobility, suggests the Deity. 

The most admirable trait of human nature is the 
The root of human desire for elevation ; this is the root of progress, this 
progress. j s tne justification of laudable ambition. To aspire 

to better things is the original law of our nature. 
The yearning after entire union with God, though 
not a trait of nature, is nevertheless like the knowl- 
edge that there is a God ; it is so quickly gene- 



JESl/S CHRIST IS GOD iti 

rated in the mind as to resemble instinct, How 

easily do I not know that there is a God! I know The defects of created 

nature suggest a per- 

without argument that I did not make myself; I know f ec t and uncreated na- 
that dead nature, with its mechanical laws, will-less ture. 
and unthinking, could not plan or make me ; I am 
master of nature. How quickly do I realize there is 
a supreme being who is the Creator and Lord of all 
things. By just as quick a movement do I leap 
into the consciousness that there is nothing in my- 
self good enough for my own ideal, nothing in 
nature. I must have the Supreme Good in every- 
thing, and I am supreme in nothing, although I am 
a king and nature is my realm. 

And yet this eagerness of desire trembles at its 
own boldness, for it longs to be God's very son. The yearning for di- 
The true revelation of God will have as one of its vinesonsm > 
marks that it seems too beautiful to be anything 
else than a dream, too much of God to be possible 
for man to compass ; — and yet I must have it. In its 
maxims it seems too disinterested to be real, too 
difficult in its precepts to be practicable — and yet 
alone worthy of human dignity. God, who is first 
and with no second, is the longing of the soul — God 
to be held and possessed on some awful footing of 
equality, so that love may be really reciprocal. "Ye 
shall be as gods " (Gen. iii. 5) was the only tempta- 
j tion which had a possibility of success in Eden. 

Man is essentially a longing being. The human 
I soul is a void, but aching to be filled with God. The void in the h«- 
j Man's capacity of knowing craves a divine knowledge; man soul. 
■ of loving, to enjoy the ecstasy of union with the 
Deity; of action, to increase the honor and glory of 
\ the infinite God ; of life, to live as long as God. 
i Daniel's praise from the angel was that he was "a 
'man of desires." It is not contact with God that we 



iv LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

want, but unity. It is not enlightenment that the 

Aspirations towards , , , ■, r ■, r- -,.,- 

divine life. human mind wants, but to be of the focus of light.. 

It is not fellowship with God that we need, but son- 
ship, some community of nature; to be "partakers 
of the divine nature," as says St. Peter (II. Peter i. 4)., 
It is not inspiration from above that will content us,| 
but deification. The end of man is not to be ridl 
of ignorance and sin ; these are hindrances to his' 
end, which is to be made divine. The satisfaction 
of the human heart is a calm of divine peace and 
joy. The supernatural attraction of the Divinity is j 

such a stimulus that human ambition never heard 

I 

its full invitation till it heard, "Be perfect as your 
heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. v. 48). That r 
marks the lowest point of satisfied human ambition. 
Cardinal Newman makes Agellius say to the yet 
Divine questionings in heathen Callista that "the Christian religion reveals' 
the soul. a present God, who satisfies every affection of the 

heart, yet keeps it pure." A present God: less than 
this were a revelation unworthy of God to a creature 
instinct already with supernatural divine questioning. 
In the satisfaction of the affections of such a being 
the best is a necessity. A present God is God 
possessed ; and He is one with the beloved . I want 
God so present to me that I can taste and see that 
the Lord is sweet; I want to be owned by Him,\ 
nay, I want to own Him. And this means the change 
from the relation of Creator and creature to that of 
Father and son. 

There are certain delicate tendencies felt in our 
These questionings soul's best moments towards what is higher. They 
are imperative. take the form of perceptions of unreasoned truth, un- 

reasoned because imperative ; or they are driftiugs 
upon the upward-moving currents of heavenly at- 
traction, making for purity of life ; or they discover, 



JESVS CHRIST IS GOD. v 

as by a divining rod, the proximity of the soul's 

r • -, i -i /-n r Every right aim of 

treasure, causing a distaste for perishable joys. Of man is towards God 

these holiest influences every one is some form or 

beginning of a more than natural yearning for the 

possession of God in a love which shall have the 

freedom of equality. Man's aim is God ; and every 

human impulse reaches out, whether blindly or not, 

towards God ; and every revelation of God broadens 

man's capacity for Him and makes his pursuit more 

eager. At the summit of reason's ascent the human 

soul is greeted with a more than natural light, in 

which it irresistibly looks to be deified. 

The teeming mind, the overflowing heart of man, 
will be content with nothing less than all that God The inadequacy of 
can do and give. "All the rivers of the world/' temporal joys, 
says the Preacher, "flow down into the sea, and 
yet the sea doth not overflow" (Eccles. i. 7). So 
all the power and riches and pleasures of this life, if 
given to our hearts in unstinted measure, would but 
mock that empty void which can be filled by God 
alone. 

Human life is never known in its solemn and over- 
powering reality till it is known as destined to union Life is real only when 
with the life of God. To say that life is real is to united to God. 
say that our interior yearnings for God shall be satis- 
fied by a union divinely real. This greatest of facts 
is also an argument. For if all man's higher needs, 
aims, desires, aspirations, demand an object, then 
there is an object : the appetite proves the food. So 
the Psalmist : ' ' For Thee my soul hath thirsted ; for 
Thee my flesh, O how many ways!" (Ps. lxii. 2). 
In the spiritual life, wants, longings, aspirations are 
the appetite; the food is God. The entire possession 
of God, in very deed and reality, in nature and per- 
son— this is the adequate satisfaction of the soul. 



vi LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

Its realization is in sharing the divine Sonship. For 

This union must oe in . . .. __ . • ., , 

a state of filiation. union with God, as He is known to unaided nature,: 
is not enough. By the creative act God made me; 
in His image, yet only His creature ; I long to be 
His son. "For the expectation of the creature wait-) 
eth for the revelation of the sons of God" (Romans; 
viii. 19). There is a divine communication which 1 
I need, and which yet transcends all my natural: 
gifts : I must share God's natural gifts. I must be 
His son. , 

The widest horizon of the soul has a beyond of 

Peering beyond the truth and virtue, whose very existence is not under-; 
stood by the mere natural man, and only the dim 
outlines of which are caught by the uttermost stretch 
of vision of even the regenerate soul. Hardly can 
human nature steadily contemplate this lofty and glori- 
ous state, even when it is revealed, much less compass 
its possession ; and . yet man instantly learns that 
there is his journey's end. The dearest victory of 
mere nature is to know that there is something 
somewhere in the spiritual universe which it needs 
and cannot of itself possess ; we have a measure of 
God which overlaps all that we by nature possess 
of Him. 

There is a strength of character everywhere made 

Reaching towards &u- known to man as the highest fruit of knowledge anc 

pernatural strength. {qy ^ Rn& which - yet strange to him . a stren gth 

to conquer time and space, moral weakness anc 
mental darkness — divine strength. This strength he 
feels the need of; striving alone, he cannot have it 
This strength of God and the character which it 
generates in us have ever claimed and received the 
name supernatural. Man obtains this quality of be- 
ing by the infusion of a new life in the spiritual 
regeneration by which he is made God's sou. . He 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. rii 

sees the glory from afar, and then he hears, "Un- 
less a man be born again he cannot enter into the 
kingdom of God" (John iii. 3). 

The inequality of men and the difference of races 
cry aloud for universal possession of God. There is Longing for superaa- 

r it -u- -u i~ • 1 <. •*. -U tural e q ualit 7 among 

no joy 01 lite which can be universal except it be men# 
God. There is Greek and barbarian, bond and free, 
male and female, and their common medium of unity, 
as well as their common joy, can only be God, re- 
vealed as a father. 

The dignity of man suggests the possibility of the 
Incarnation ; the aspirations of man suggest its prob- Summary of antece- 
ability ; the degradation of man cries out for it, and d 1L ent T P robabilities of 

«...'._ _ the Incarnation. 

implores its immediate gift. As a matter of fact, 
the entire human race has ever expected that God 
would come among men. The ignoble taint of 
idolatry is thus palliated — a vice so widespread and 
deep-rooted that without palliation it were fatal to hu- 
manity's claim of dignity. 

" LO, THIS IS OUR GOD : WE HAVE WAITED 
FOR HIM ! " 

The palliation of the guilt of self-worship by 
ancient humanity is in the truth that, somehow or a palliative of ancient 
other, man is or can be made one with God. That 
any error may be possible of credence, it must taste 
of truth ; man's palate cannot abide unmixed false- 
hood. Now, in many forms of idolatry men beheld 
the possible deity instead of the real. When we con- 
sider what the Incarnation proved human nature 
capable of, we can pity as well as condemn that 
highest form of idolatry called hero-worship. " Ye 
shall be as gods" (Gen. iii. 5) was a cunning tempta- 
tion, because Adam and Eve already felt within them 
a dignity with something divine in it. 



viii LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

In the far East the Chinese, the Japanese, and 
immemorial expect- oth er kindred nations have cherished an immemorial 

ancy of the Incarna- . . 

t ; on . tradition that God was to descend upon earth in 

visible form, to enlighten men's ignorance in per- 
son, and redeem them from their sins. One of the 
most precious results of the later learning has been 
to show that the Hindus and the Persians, the 
two dominant races of southern and central Asia, 
looked for nothing less than the coming of the Su- 
preme Being among men, to cleanse them from vice 
and to elevate them to virtue. The Egyptians, 
Plutarch tells us, looked for the advent of the Son 
of Isis as a God-redeemer of the world. Humboldt 
has recorded that among the aboriginal Mexicans 
there was a firm belief in the Supreme God of 
Heaven, who would send his own Son upon earth to 
destroy evil. The same is true of the ancient Peru- 
vians. 

But how much clearer was this tradition among 
The witness of the the Greeks and the Romans, the two most powerful 
sages of Greece and anc j mos i enlightened races of antiquity, and how 
energetic was its expression ! Socrates, at once the 
wisest man of heathendom and the most guileless 
taught his disciples, and through them the entire 
western civilization, man's incompetency to know his 
whole duty to God and his neighbor, and his in- 
ability to perform even what he does know of it; 
and he implored a universal teacher from above. 
Plato bears witness to this teaching of his master anc 
reaffirms it. 

The Romans had their Sibylline prophecy of a 
oman lys, divine king who was to come to save the world. The 

orators and philoso- & 

phers. illustrious orator Cicero, the enchanting poet Virgil, 

voice this tradition or this instinct of their imperial 
race : God is needed, and needed in visible form. 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. ix 

The historians Tacitus and Suetonius tell of the uni- 
versal conviction, based on ancient and unbroken 
tradition, that a great conqueror, who should sub- 
jugate the world, was to come from Judea. 

So that the long-drawn cry of the Hebrew prophets, 
now wailing, now jubilant, always as sure as life The Hebrews and 
and death, and in the course of ages rising and fall- 4 eir P r °P ets - 
ing in multitudinous cadence among those hills which 
formed the choir of the world's temple, was not the 
monotone of a single race, but the dominant note in 
the harmony of all races. "God Himself will come 
and will save you," says Isaias (xxxv. 4) in solemn 
prediction. And again: "1,0, this is our God; we 
have waited for Him" (Isa. xxxv. 9), as if answer- 
ing by anticipation the question asked by John the 
Baptist on the part of humanity : " Art thou He 
that art to come?" (Matt. xi. 3). No voice ever 
heard by man has sounded so deep, clear, peace- 
ful, and authoritative as that which said in Judea : 
" I am come that they may have life, and may have 
it more abundantly" (John x. 10). They that shall 
hearken to that voice, "to them shall be given the 
power to be made the sons of God" (John i. 12). 

Here, then, is the meaning of the promises made 
of old. Even to Adam a Redeemer was promised. ^^ces^T^ 
Abraham was His chosen stock, Israel His race, coming foretold. 
David His house and family. By Isaias His attri- 
butes were sung, by Daniel His coming was fixed 
as to time, by Micheas Bethlehem was named as 
the place of His birth. The angel foretold His titles, 
His royalty, and His divinity to Mary, His mother. 
'The question, "Where is He that is born King of 
jthe Jews?" (Matt. ii. 2), put to the doctors and 
! rulers of Jerusalem by the first pilgrims to His shrine, 
j was answered with decision and the spot pointed out. 



x LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST^ 

O what a boon ! To possess God, and to possess 
The boon of God's Him as our bro ther ; to have His Father as our j 

fatherhood, brother- ._..., _ ., n 

hood and spouseship. father, His Spirit as the spouse of our souls ! What ' 
are all the joys of this life but mockeries compared? 
to the possession of God! O that serene, gentle/ 
tender Master, who came on earth to teach us how ] 
to become divine ! O that valiant Saviour who died' 
that we might live the life of God ! 

"MY LORD AND MY GOD!" 

Christianity is historical. It deals with the life 1 
Christianity is the his- which the human race has lived. It is not a theory 1 
tory of its Founder. to ^ e considered in the abstract. It is a fact. A 
has been a fact. It belongs to that narrative of men's * 
lives and deeds which we call history. And Christian- 3 
ity is especially the life and the deeds of one man ; 
— its Founder, Jesus Christ. 

Look at Christ as a promise and a fulfilment. ' 
The effrontery of say- The Jews expected Him, the nations dreamed of Him. 

ing that Jesus Christ * _. , 

never existed. He came, and His name and power have overspread 

the earth. What an astonishing thought ! Yet men 
have had the brazen boldness to assert, and to try 
to prove, that Christ never existed ! This greatest, 
not only fact but factor in all human history was a ' 
myth. Though the Gospels were written by eye- 
witnesses or their depositaries, though Jewish con- , 
temporary history tells of Him, though heathen con- 
temporary records tell of Him, though the tracings 
of ancient art tell of Him, though the unbroken 
traditions of the whole race tell of Him, men arose 
a hundred years ago and said He had never existed 
at all. He existed in prophecy from Adam's time. 
The oldest and most venerable monuments of history 
tell of His promise on the spot and in the hour of 
the first sin ; of the dedication of a family and then 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. xi 

of a race to produce Him ; of the expectation of 

the nations dimly seeing a future Redeemer; of a Jesus in prophecy and 

■ ° in fulfilment. 

line of prophets, workers of marvels, poets ; of the 
gathering of the ages into the fulness of time, of 
the nations into the unity of government, and then 
of His coming, the God of ages, the King of nations 
— the gift which the bending heavens dropped into 
Mary's bosom, the renewal of all things below. 

There is nothing that we claim for Jesus Christ 
that He has not claimed for Himself, and His testi- He is His own witness, 
mony is true. He has established a character before 
the world in which a most conspicuous trait is truth- 

| fulness. Who has so much as accused Christ of 
being an impostor? il For this was I born, for this 
came I into the world, that I might bear testimony The truth-teller of the 

!to the truth" (John xviii. 37). Here and there ages ' 
this claim of Christ of being a truth-teller has been 
denied, but only by some delirious atheist who thus 
utters his own condemnation. " Never did man speak 
like this man" (John vii. 46), is the spontaneous 
judgment of .humanity upon Christ. 

But also, "His word was with power" (Luke iv. 
32). He showed Himself the Master of nature at His truthfulness au~ 

., ,. ,, , TT 1 • j , . thenticated by mira- 

tne same time that He claimed a hearing as a mes- les 
senger from God. " This beginning of miracles did 
Jesus at Cana of Galilee, and He manifested His 
glory, and His disciples believed in Him" (John ii. 
j 11). He stills the storm, He walks on the water, 
1 He vanishes out of sight, He reappears from empty 
j space. "Receive thy sight," He says (L,uke xviii. 
I 42), and a man born blind is made to see, and 
this is part of His sermon. He groans and lifts His 
1 eyes to Heaven, and a dumb man speaks, and this 
accredits His message ; such events were the uni- 
versal accompaniments of His teachings. "Young 



xii LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

man, I say to thee, arise " (Luke vii. 14), and the 

The supreme evidence dead bodv became alive sat up and began tQ speak . 
of His resurrection. ' . x ° r 

and upon such evidences of His power Jesus ad- 
dressed the people. "Lazarus, come forth!" (John 
xi. 43); who could resist Christ preaching at the grave 
of Lazarus? Only the malicious and the perverse. 
Then they slew Him. He was dead and buried, 
His followers scattered, His career ruined. And again 
He is alive. He is seen, touched, heard, lived with 
by all His old associates and followers to the num- 
ber of five hundred, teaching a doctrine which is the 
very perfection and fulfilment of what He had taught 
before. From all this we know with absolute cer- 
tainty that Christ's testimony of Himself, as well 
as of everything else, is true. " Master," said Nico- 
demus, "we know that Thou art a teacher come 
from God, for no man could do the works which 
Thou dost, unless God were with him" (John iii. 2). 
Xow, what is Christ according to His own testi- 
How jesus testifies to mony ? He is God. To His own disciples He said: 
His own divinity. "Have I been so long a time with you and you 

have not known Me ? He that seeth Me seeth the 
Father" (John xiv. 9). And He insisted: "Believe 
you not that I am in the Father and the Father 
in Me ? Otherwise believe for the very works' sake" 
(John xiv. 11, 12). This was an appeal to a sense 
of Christ's divinity bestowed by Him upon all who 
ever came near Him, vague or distinct in proportion 
to the intelligence and good will of its recipients. 
Lacordaire calls this "a mystic certainty," which 
viewed in its interior manifestations we shall con- 
sider more fully before concluding. "That all should 
honor the Son even as they honor the Father ' ' (John 
v. 23) was Christ's precept, and the worship of Je- 
hovah insensibly passed into that of the Messias, 



A. mystic certainty. 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. xiii 

absorbing it totally in the hearts of Christ's dis- 
ciples. It was indeed only by degrees that this domi- £j£ r ' s P rofession of 
nated the Apostles. " Thou art Christ, the Son of the 
living God" (Matt. xvi. 16;, the first proclamation 
of the Apostolic faith, was made by Peter ; and 
" Flesh and blood hath not revealed this to thee, but 
My Father " (Matt. xvi. 17), was our Lord's accept- 
ance of it. It made its final conquest after the 
Resurrection, when Thomas solemnly exclaimed: That of Thomas. 
"My Lord and my God! " (John xx. 28) — his re- 
luctant mind, compelled by the testimony of his 
senses, seeing and touching the risen body of his 
Master. Our Saviour's acceptance of these divine 
titles — " Because thou hast seen, Thomas, thou hast 
believed. Blessed are they who have not seen and 
have believed" (John xx. 29) — is most conclusive 
of His doctrine. He accepts Thomas's profession of 
faith, adopts it, anticipates its use by others as the 
formula of a belief in their case unsupported by 
sensible contact with His bodily existence. 

The result of Christ's teaching was the unanimous 
conviction of His followers that He was divine. The The unanimous faith 
Gospel and Epistles of St. John, the latest of the 
Apostolic writers, are conclusive of this. As to the 
public attitude of the Society which appeared in the 
world as the Christian Church, St. Paul's teaching 
is full, is variously expressed, and is all summarized 
by such words as these: "Who, being in the form 
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with 
God" (Phil. ii. 6); and again: "For in Him 
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 
ii. 9). 

Is it realized how difficult it must have been to 
teach honest Hebrews, who loathed idolatry above 
every evil, that a man of their nation and like them- 



xiv LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

selves was Jehovah come in the flesh ? Jesus did 
The significance of the h though not b the immediate promulgation of 

Apostolic faith in the & . . 

incarnation. tne great doctrine, which would have shocked them. 

But first He secured a place as Master by the testi- 
mony of John the Baptist, and then by His astound- 
ing miracles, and always by the impress of His 
resistless love and wisdom. Afterwards He allowed 
His divinity to be taught by His works, by His 
• character, previously or in conjunction with His own 
explicit claim to be divine. 

The enemies of Jesus were no less impressed with 

The spontaneous and His claim to be God than were His friends. "They 

official accusation of ^ ^^ km Him because Re gaid ^ t 

the Jews. ° 

God was His Father, making Himself equal to 
God" (John v. 18). In fact, when His credentials 
as a prophet had been fairly presented, He was 
as ready to claim divine honors from the Jewish con- 
spirators as from His own disciples. When they 
quoted Abraham against Him, He said: "Amen, 
amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made I 
am" (John viii. 58) — that expression / am being 
the traditional synonym of the Deity among the 
Jews. - ' They took up stones therefore to cast at 
Him" (John x. 31), because, as they said, "Being 
a man, thou makest Thyself God" (John x. 33). 
And this was the condemnation of the Council against 
Him, that they had heard His claim of divinity 
from His own mouth, and needed no witnesses to 
convict Him of it. 

"I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD." 

If Jesus Christ was a chosen messenger of God, 

Summary of the argu- as all admit, He was, 1st, a good man; 2d, a truth- 

ment - ful man ; 3d, an enlightened man. But He believed 

that He was God. Hence He was God. For it is 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. xv 

evidently impossible, without supposing lunacy, for 
a man to be deceived about such a stupendous thing 
as to whether He is God or not. 

There are many who admit Christ as a great can Christ have been 
leader, but deny to Him the divine attributes. John a great and good man, 
Stuart Mill has somewhere said that he knows no and nothing more ? 
better canon of conduct before any act than that the 
man who is about to do it should ask himself 
whether Jesus Christ would approve of it, or the 
contrary ; and yet Mill was almost an atheist. Such 
men are numerous, and the deists among them freely 
admit that Christ was God's foremost champion, His 
best accredited messenger, the true leader of the 
human race. Now, what we say to these persons 
is, that if they are right, then Christ must be God, 
otherwise God is the author of idolatry, for Christ 
won divine worship from the beginning. 

The mission of Christ to the world is the most 
distinctively moral and religious intervention of an T^e relation of 

° . Christ s mission to an 

overruling Providence in the affairs of humanity overruling Providence 
which ever took place. But its characteristic is the 
claim of divinity on Christ's part, and the recogni- 
tion of that claim on the part of His followers. If 
He be not divine, actually God, then the Supreme 
Ruler of men's souls has failed both in His mes- 
senger and His message, and failed fatally. Christ 
was sent to eradicate idolatry, which had grown to 
be the deepest-seated evil of humanity, and to estab- 
lish impregnably the very opposite, the knowledge His mission against 
and worship of the true God. The lightest belief idolatl T could not 

._... _ ... ., ._ . ,. . ,. have ended in a new 

| in Divine Providence identifies its rulings m this form of idolatry- 
i sense with Christ and His mission — and they resulted 
I in universal Christ- worship. God must have foreseen 
1 that men would finally come to adore Jesus more uni- 
jversally than ever they had adored their idols. The 



xvi LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

being who conferred on His Apostles the power to 
God's providence forgive sins, to shut and open the gates of heaven, 

made the adoration of , -■ . , . , . . . , . , . r . . , 

Christ inevitable. and wll ° accompanied this with the gift of miracles, 
was most likely to be adored as God among the 
idolatrous nations. They could with difficulty be dis- 
suaded from paying divine honors to Paul and Barna- 
bas. They must have adored Christ. 

" The hour cometh and now is when the true 

not U a prophet ° ' " adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth," 
— not if Jesus Christ be no more than human, for 
He has won the world's adoration. He is no prophet 
if He be not God. Christianity was a revolution in 
the moral and intellectual world so sudden and so 
vast, and humanly speaking so inexplicable, that it 
proves its own divine origin. 

The alternative of de- Certainly Christ is of God, from God, and there- 

nying the incarnation, fore for God, whatever else may be said of Him. 
Go on and say the rest : He is God, or there is no 
God. 

The civilized world was never conquered except 
by one faith, a conquest in favor of peace among 
warring nations, self-denial among the sensual and 
covetous, discipline among the turbulent. Shall all 
this serve for mere idolatry ? 

Take away Christ and you have robbed the human 
race of its only perfect hero. And has He but sunk 
us into a false worship more hopeless than paganism 
itself? 

Take from mankind what Christ has given of 

Humanity without knowledge and love and joy, of freedom and of 
purity, and what is left? The ashes of the extinct 
idolatries of pagan Greece and Rome, the shades of 
conquerors, of orators, of poets, dead books and 
crumbling monuments. It will not do to say that 
you have a morality without Christ unless you frankly 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. xvii 

paganize in principle and in practice. You cannot 

do away with Christ and hold fast to His morality. ™e beneficent effects 

.of the adoration of 

You cannot destroy the tree as a pest and claim its Christ a cumulative 
fruits as a blessing. But men, taken in their genera- proof of the incarna- 
tions, could not and cannot help adoring Him. He tlon * 
found the world in a state of lust, violence, tyranny, 
and horrid idolatry. By His principles and His 
maxims, by His Church, by His saints and martyrs, 
He conquered it. His force was unseen and yet re- 
sistless, as God is. Pagan and barbarian went down 
before Him in a war of ideas. Could it have been 
other than a divine victory? 

In ancient times the entire effort of Providence 
was to hold men to the worship of the true God, or Providence, Christ, 
to restore them to it. This was especially the case an l ° atry * 
in His dealings with the Jews. Shall the final effort 
result in the annihilation of that worship ? To main- 
tain the knowledge of the true God, Noe, Abra- 
ham, Moses, David wrought as divine instruments, 
all in direct line with the Christ to whom they all 
pointed, foreshadowing and predicting Him as the 
perfection of their work. He comes, lives, teaches, 
dies, establishes His fellowship, and wins the nations. 
It could not have been for idolatry, and yet He is 
adored. If God hates anything it is idolatry, and 
Christ is His foremost representative. 

If Christ be not God, He is the author of the 
most obstinate idolatry ever known. No teaching so The triumph of Christ 
awfully authoritative as His, no life so irresistibly at- fon ^ of jdoktry 
tractive, no death so solemn and so triumphant. Has 
the only result been idolatry ? 

. We have already given Christ's direct claim upon 
men's worship, and shown how both His disciples 
and His enemies understood it. But utterances which 
compared with these are commonplace and vague, 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



Christ's claim of 
eternal life : 



-the source of virtue 



— the source of author- 
ity ; 



— the supreme judge : 



— the object of su- 
preme worship ; 



— oneness with the 
Father. 



would be enough in the mouth of any other re- 
ligious teacher to convict him of usurping divine 
honors : 

" Lo, I am with you all days, even to the con- 
summation of the world" (Matt, xxviii. 20). Who 
commands the lapse of ages but the King of ages? 

" I am the vine; you the branches. ... If 
any one remaineth not in Me, he shall be cast forth 
as a branch" (John xv. 5, 6). Who but God could 
say such words? 

"Keep My commandments" (John xiv. 15). 

" He that loveth father or mother more than 
Me is not worthy of Me" (Matt. x. 37). 

" Many sins are forgiven her because she hath 
loved much" (Luke vii. 47). Was Magdalen an 
idolater ? 

" If any man come to Me and hate not his father 
and mother, and wife and children, and brethren 
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be 
My disciple" (Luke xiv. 26). What claim is this 
for any mere man to make upon his fellow-man ? 

"That they may all be one, as Thou, Father, in 
Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in 
Us, and that the world may believe that Thou hast 
sent Me" (John xvii. 21). Here is a claim of 
headship of the human race, based on His union 
with the Father and as a sign of the Father's ap- 
proval. In the pagan world, the faintest claim of 
divinity on the part of a great benefactor of the race 
added another name to the long list of false gods. 
Would the true God allow one who, besides being 
a great and good man, was His chosen messenger, to 
plunge the world into darker depths of idolatry ? 
Even without Christ, the progress of intelligence, as 
we see it in history, would probably have done 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. xix 

away with idolatry in course of time. If He be 

not God, He has fastened it more firmly upon the Summary of the argu- 

x ment from an over- 

race; His wisdom is an idolatrous sophistry, His ruling Providence, 
tenderness of heart an idolatrous snare, His romantic, 
touching, winning career a lure to the unwary. If 
Christ is not God, who can blame us for being idola- 
ters ? How long the divine worship of Him has en- 
dured ! — far longer than that of the mythical deities 
of Greece and Rome ; how deep it is, how wide ! 
Where, then, is Providence if this be not the true 
worship ? 

"I KNOW MINE AND MINK KNOW MB." 

The entire human race is divided into two classes, 
those who know Christ in the inner life and those The value of the i*ner 
who do not. The former bear testimony of Christ ^'J 653 
to the latter, and their testimony is true. The 
value of this inner witness is shown by the large 
number of persons who are silenced but not convinced 
by the outward and historical testimonies for Christ ; 
conviction comes to them only after an interior ex- 
perience. 

The work of Christ is personal. From man to man 
He goes, teaches, exhorts, entreats, by word, by in- The union of the 
fluence. If He sends a messenger without, He stirs outer with the inn<r 

11 • -. • 111 -*t testimony. 

the heart witnm to hearken to the message. No 
book can make a man a Christian. No man or num- 
ber of men can do it unless they be Christ-bearers 
in life and doctrine, and Christ's Spirit work mean- 
time in a hidden way. On the other hand, there are 
men to whom Christ would be known if all the books 
in the world were burned. 

"Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy 
burdened" (Matt. xi. 28). 

The evidence of which we speak is not that of an 



XX 



LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 



exceptional experience, but of a cloud of witnesses. 
This personal testi- Jn ey community in the civilized world there are 

cnony is universal. 

at least a few leading spirits, leading in all moral 
and beneficent activity, and easily distinguishable 
from fanatics and visionaries, who characterize their 
lives as transformed by Christ ; and with them and 
around them is a multitude in a lower grade of con- 
scious union with Him. All these together and 
everywhere are the kingdom of the Son of God. 
The evidence of personal knowledge of Christ given 
St. Augustine. by such men as St. Augustine and St. Francis of 

Assisi, though none of them ever saw Him with 
their bodily eyes, carries conviction. They say with 
the Apostle: "The Spirit Himself giveth testimony 
to our spirit" (Rom. viii. 16). Listen to St Augus- 
tine: "What, then, is it that I love, when I love 
Thee? Neither the beauty of the body, nor the 
graceful order of time, nor the brightness of light 
so agreeable to these eyes, nor the sweet melody of 
all sorts of music, nor the fragrant scent of flowers, 
oils, or spices, nor the sweet taste of manna or 
honey, nor fair limbs alluring to carnal embraces. 
None of these things do I love when I love my 
God. And yet I love a certain light, a?id a certain 
voice, and a certain fragrancy ', and a certain food, 
and a certain embrace when I love my God, the light, 
the voice, the fragrancy , the food, and the embrace of 
my i?iward man ; where that shines to my soul which 
no place can contain ; and where that sou?ids which no 
time can measure; and where that smells which no blast 
can disperse; and where that relishes which no eating 
can diminish; and where that is embraced which ?io 
satiety can separate. This it is that I love whe?i I 
love my God." Such witnesses reaffirm, in a word, by 
speech, and more than all by action, the conscious 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. xxi 

presence of that ' ' hidden man of the heart ' ' of 

whom St. Peter (I. Kp. iii. 4) says that He manifests The identity of 

_ . , . .,.,., . Christ's influence with 

Himself in the incorruptibility of a quiet and a a new inner lifCt 
meek spirit." 

The greatest activity of Christ is invisible, and 
His noblest victories are in the secret trysting-places 
of love in the thoughts of men. The elevating and 
purifying influence known as the Christian Inner 
Life, is neither a mere force nor an idea ; it is a Per- 
son. It is Christ. It is the introduction of a new 
life, His own life, into men's souls ; not superimposed 
upon the mind, nor imputed to the soul, but infused 
into it by the spirit of God. "I live, now not I, but 
Christ liveth in me" (Gal. ii. 20). 

This new life is, in its consciousness, a new in- 
terior experience, carrying the soul far above the How he dominates 
highest flight of reason, and dominating it with a reason - 
divine authority. It is the most personal of all our 
unions, and is therefore entirely capable of descrip- 
tion. The simple affirmation of this inner experience 
is of weight as an argument. " I know He is God," 
says the Christian, ' ' for my inner life has proved it 
to me." 

Apart from the graces attached to office, the real 
power of religious organizations to convince is not in 
the spectacle of disciplined masses, but in the in- The resistl f ess persua " 

' * * siveness of regenerate 

fluence of regenerate persons ; let them move forward men . 
in unity, and everything bows before their banners. 
The impulse of a soul filled with God upon one 
wanting, or at least needing, to be so filled, is con- 
jStantly proved and acknowledged to be resistless. 
Such evidences as revelation and history give of 
1 authority, unity, continuity, and universality are all 
I concerning divine qualities, whose possession is a 
jnecessary note of Christ's fellowship. But Christ's 



As a motive of credi- 
bility. 



This interior force de- 
fined by the Council 
of Trent. 



It generates new pow- 
er of knowing truth. 



Intuitive knowledge. 



xxii LIFE OF JESUS CHRISTl 

kingdom is not exclusively external. " The kingdom' 
of God is within you " (I,uke xvii. 21). The testi- 
mony of the inner life is that of a living and present 1 
witness, and it is a high motive of credibility. I 
is monopolized by Christians; no such union i 
claimed by un-Christian religions: "I know Mine, 
and Mine know Me " (John x. 14). 

The dogmatic position of this truth is given by? 
the Council of Trent, which affirms, as a fundamental/ 
article of faith, that belief and hope and love and re-^ 
pentance, if worth anything for eternal life, must be" 
preceded in the soul by the inspiration of the Spirit! 
of God, which is the Spirit of Christ. Christians tell! 
you that by faith they know Jesus Christ as one per-^ 
son knows another ; and although this personal knowl- 
edge is in a dark manner, yet they say truly, "I 
know whom I have believed, and I am certain " (II. 
Tim. i. 12). 

Faith is that interior perception, quick and clear, 
by which the intelligence recognizes the teacher and 
accepts the truth which he teaches, and this is con-l 
ferred by Christ as a new and superior activity of} 
the power of knowing. It is the baptismal gift, the' 
first pledge of the supernatural life. In the light of | 
faith Christ reveals Himself as God, and it is to| 
create and maintain this inner power that Church, 
Scripture, and tradition are given us. In it the human, 
mind is endowed with a force far beyond its natural! 
gifts, and is made partaker of a divine activity. It 
is an unshakable certainty of conviction, a heavenly 
clearness of perception, and an intuitive knowledge 
of a kind superior to that of natural reason ; it is 
what the Apostle calls ' ' having the mind of Christ ' ' 
(I. Cor. ii. 16). This has a twofold effect on us: 
one to dominate the mental forces, and the other to 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD, xxiii 

stimulate their activity, proposing to them an infinitely 
.adequate end. " Faith is the substance of things 
I hoped for, the conviction of things that appear not" 
I (Heb. xi. i). So that Christian faith is the evidence 
jj of the substantial personal presence of the Spirit of 

Christ within us. 

The first fruit of faith is hope — " Christ, in you 

1 , , / ^ 1 • • \ , i . • . Eternal hope is pecu- 

the hope of glory" (Col. n. 27); that is to say, liarly christian, 
out of the root of high and supernatural knowledge 
of Christ's divine presence within me springs a divine 
assurance of His purpose that the union shall be per- 
petual. We have faith in order that we may know 
Christ, the object of love; hope that we may courage- 
ously journey towards our heavenly home ; but we 
have love that we may possess Christ, for love is the 
unitive virtue. Faith says : Christ is here ; Hope 
says : He will abide ; Love says : He is mine. We Love is the perfect 

know that it is the Divine Son that is within us, for fruit of the Incarw 

nation. 

His presence communicates to us a son's love for the 
Eternal Father. " Because you are sons, God has 
sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying 
Abba, Father" (Gal. iv. 6). 

Faith, hope and charity, knowledge, confidence 
and love, are the entire life of the renewed man. The life of a man re- 
"Now I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" newed by Christ. 
(Gal. ii. 20). Surely a man can give testimony of 
his life ; and such is the witness of the Christian to 
Christ. Faith is the light, and hope is the warmth, 
but love is the very fire of Jesus Christ in our 
hearts. " Was not our heart burning within us 
whilst He spoke in the way and opened to us the 
Scriptures" (Luke xxiv. 32), said the two who met 
Him on the way to Emmaus. This explains why 
simple men can stand their ground against learned 
scoffers. Even when puzzled by sophistries they have 



xxiv LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST. 

an interior view of the truth, coupled with a personal 
guarantee. Resistance to doubt as well as to vice is 
confided by them to that hidden man of the heart of 
whom St. Peter speaks. 

This interior union with Christ is the spur of 
Practical results of the heroism, the seed of martyrdom, the sweetness of re- 
Chnstian faith. pentance, the fortitude of weakness, all of which forces ! 

are arguments bearing witness to their origin: "I 
can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me " 
(Phil. iv. 13). No man has ever deliberately adhered 
to the doctrine of Christ as the Son of God, and 
sought to obey His precepts, but that his inner life 
was most distinctly enlightened and inflamed with a 
force far above his natural capacity — a force consciously 
present, and felt to be divine. " If a man will do the 
will of Him, then he shall know of the doctrine 
whether it be from God, or whether I speak from My- 
self" (John vii. 17). The affirmation of this by men 
and multitudes is competent and unimpeachable 
evidence. The proof of it by the martyr's heroism, 
the pauper's cheerful patience, the repentant sinner's 
abounding hope, the dullard's wisdom, the superhuman 
benevolence of the Sister of Charity, is irresistible. 
Not only has the Christian religion always looked 

The co-ordination of . _ TT . 

the arguments true. xt nas always felt true. We dwelt m the be- 

ginning upon the longing of the soul for sonship with 
God, affirming that as the appetite proves the food, so 
the divine sonship was not only a possible, but alto- 
gether a probable, though supernatural, end of human 
aspiration. A co-ordinate argument is the one we are 
now concluding, for digestion and assimilation prove a 
food still more conclusively than appetite. "He that 
believeth in the Son of God hath the testimony of God 
in himself" (I. John v. 10). All who have tried any 
other object of devoted love — ambition, science, pleas- 



JESUS CHRIST IS GOD. xsv 

ure — mournfully agree that they remain unsatisfied. 

All who try this object of burning human love exclaim Experimental knowl- 

J * ° edge completes the 

together, in an ecstasy, that they have received a ful- force f extrinsic ar- 

ness of satisfaction beyond the scope of created power guments. 

to bestow. The object is divine — it is the only end of 

man. If I am conscious of an excellence within me, 

which is not myself because it is infinite, and which 

when I love it assimilates me to itself, my affirmation 

of its presence and character commands respect. If 

the analysis of a rain-drop tells of an infinite Creator, 

how much rather may the introspection of a single soul 

reveal the infinite Lover of men. 

This, then, is the dogma of Christ's Divinity. It was 
the divine will to renew the human race, and to make Summary of thisEpi- 

lojrue. 

the first-born of the new manhood the Only-Begotten 
Son of the Most High God. Man shall be made par- 
taker of divinity by a union of natures, his personal 
existence shall become consciously divine and his hu- 
manity clothed with the Deity. This union can be 
fully expressed only by the term Incarnation, God be- 
coming flesh. The two natures of God and man, 
held distinct and each preserved intact, are yet made 
one in a single divine person, under a single moral re- 
sponsibility ; so that in Jesus Christ the acts of a man 
become in a rigorously exact sense the acts of God. 
His thoughts are illumined with an uncreated wisdom 
which is His own, and His conduct is guided by a 
rule not only identical with the righteousness of the 
Deity but His own personal prerogative as well. This 
is what God meant to do in restoring man to his 
pristine nobility, and what He actually did in the In- 
carnation. 



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